Nesokia bunnii Khajuria 1981

Nesokia bunnii Khajuria 1981, Bull. Nat. Hist. Res. Centre, 7: 162.

Type Locality: SE Iraq, Basra Province, Al-Qurna.

Vernacular Names: Long-tailed Nesokia.

Distribution: Recorded only from marshes at the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in SE Iraq. Possibly occurs in Al-Hawizeh marsh to the east straddling the Iraq-Iran border.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Originally described under genus Erythronesokia by Khajuria (1981), but shown to be a distinctive species of Nesokia by Al-Robaae and Felten (1990). The meager available ecological information about this unique Nesokia is reported by Khajuria (1981) and Al-Robaae and Felten (1990). Because the vast wetlands of southern Iraq were largely destroyed by the Saddam Hussein regime during the last decade (Associated Press, 2003; UNEP, 2003), current population status of N. bunnii in Iraq is unknown.