en Genetics Genetics پژوهشي Orginal research papers The family of Anisakidea (<em>Anisakis</em> and <em>Contracaecum</em>) includes zoonotic parasitic nematodes that have worldwide distribution. Two hundreds <em>Anisakis </em>and <em>Contracaecum </em>sp. nematode samples were collected from the intestine of <em>Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi </em>and<em> Barbus grypus</em> caught from Shadegan Wetland, where known as an important international wetland in Iran with a rich biodiversity. After extraction of the genomic DNA, PCR was used to amplify the entire ITS fragment with primers NC5-NC2. PCR products were fractionated by agarose gel electrophoresis prior to purify using gel extraction kit. The purified DNA was sequenced by an Applied Biosystems DNA sequenced in both directions. In order to compare the obtained sequence data with similar sequences from other nematodes, target sequence data were retrieved from the GenBank. The overall prevalence of <em>Anisakis</em> and <em>Contracaecum</em> in the studied fish from Shadegan Wetland was 6% and 9% in <em>Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi </em>and 4% and 6% in <em>Barbus grypus</em>, respectively. All nematodes were identified as <em>Anisakis pegreffii </em>and <em>Contracaecum rudolphii </em>based on the phylogenetic tree and genetic distance. This is the first time to report the distribution of <em>A. pegreffii</em> and <em>C. rudolphii</em> in <em>Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi</em> and <em>Barbus grypus</em> in Shadegan Wetland. Based on the results, the danger of zoonotic anisakid nematodes, including <em>A. pegreffii</em> and <em>C. rudolphii</em> in the studied area is very low. Anisakis, Contracaecum, ITS region, rRNA, phylogeny 1674 1683 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1538-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 F. Mohammadi f.darya80@gmail.com 100319475328460042741 100319475328460042741 No 3Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran A. Jolodar jolodara@yahoo.com 100319475328460042742 100319475328460042742 Yes Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran M. Mesbah m.mesbah@scu.ac.ir 100319475328460042743 100319475328460042743 No Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran M.H. Razi Jalali mh.jalali@scu.ac.ir 100319475328460042744 100319475328460042744 No Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz