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Halophiles are in all three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya. Halophilic microorganisms in addition to form major part of life biodiversity can have many biotechnological applications. The objective of this research is isolation and identification of halophilic bacteria from Urmia Lake in Iran and the study of its bacterial biodiversity. After sampling of brines from Urmia Lake from 10 stations and depth of approximately 30-50 cm, in April 2011 and transfer to the laboratory in the sterile conditions, samples were enriched and cultured on defined media, and incubated. After appearance of colonies, selected strains were studied based on morphology, physiology and biochemical characteristics. For phylogenetic identification, their genomic DNA were extracted and amplified by PCR technique. Therefore their sequences were determined by genetic experiment based on 16S rRNA gene sequence and their similarity were analysed in GenBank of EzTaxon database. Finally the phylogenetic tree was constructed. Studied strains belonged to three genera: Halomonas 50% (including H. andesensis LC6(T) [12.5%], H. gomseomensis M12(T) [12.5%], H. hydrothermalis Slthf2(T) [12.5%], H. boliviensis LC1(T) [6.25%] and H. janggokensis M24(T) [6.25%]), Salinivibrio 25% (including S.costicolasubsp. alcaliphilus DSM 16359(T) [18.75%] and S. sharmensis BAG(T) [6.25%]) and Idiomarina 25% (including I .loihiensis L2TR(T) [25%]).

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A total of 98 marine mammal records from Iranian coastal waters of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman were compiled of which 66 are previously unpublished new records.  Seventy-nine were from the Persian Gulf and 16 from the Gulf of Oman coast.  The largest numbers of records were from Qeshm Island and Bushehr Provinces. Records of finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides), Indo-pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) and Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) were by far the most numerous probably reflecting their inshore distribution and local abundance.  Other species recorded are common dolphin (Delphinus capensis tropicalis), rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus), false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), and dugong (Dugong dugon).  Evidence of 22 Mysticetes were obtained eight of which were tentatively identified as Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni), three as fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and three as Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).  The largest threat to marine mammals in Iran is likely to be incidental capture in fishing gear.  Six by caught finless porpoises were recorded and this species may be particularly vulnerable to incidental mortality in gillnets. Recommended marine mammal research, conservation and management small projects in Iran are described.

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The gobies are non-commercial fishes in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea for which population dynamics and stock status are poorly known. In this survey, we tried to define species diversity and catch per unit effort (CPUE) of Gobiidae by using beach seine nets in Salmanshahr, the southern Caspian Sea. From March 2011 to April 2012, 224 specimens representing 4 gobiid species, belonging to genus Ponticola and Neogobius, were caught. The deepwater Goby, Ponticola bathybius (Kessler, 1877), was the most abundant species with 92.8% frequency. The highest catch per unit effort of gobiid fishes was obtained in spring. The species diversity was highest in spring according to Shannon’s index.

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This trawl survey was carried out during 2013 for the stock assessment of families Haemulids, Nemipterids and Ariids in the Oman Sea. Sampling was carried out at five different stratum and depths. The highest value of CPUA of Haemulidae was estimated for Pomadasys stridens in “B” stratum (885.78 kg nm^-2), for Pomadasys kaakan at depths of 10-20 m  (330.35 kg nm^-2), and for Nemipteridae it was estimated for Nemipterus japonicus in “D” stratum (1042.31 kg nm^-2) at 30-50 m depths (1734.97 kg nm^-2), and for Ariidae, it was estimated for Netuma thalassina in the stratum B (752.64 kg nm^-2) at 20-30 m depths (428.33 kg nm^-2). The highest biomass for Haemulidae was estimated in stratum B (320.53 ton) at 50-100 m depths (282.98 tons), and for Nemipteridae in “D” stratum (559.72 tons) and at depths of 30-50 m (604.04 tons), and for Ariidae it was estimated in “B” stratum (272.35 tons) and at 50-100 m depths (255.12 ton). Based on the results obtained, the highest species diversity for Haemulids was in “A” stratum at depths less than 50 m, while for Nemipterids it was similar in the total study area and different depth layers. Highest species diversity for Ariids were found in “A” and “D” strata at depth layers of 10-20 m and 30-50 m, respectively. In light of the fact that fishing efforts decreased during these years, our results illustrate that CPUA and biomass have ascending trends which indicate the relative stability of the stocks of these families.

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This study aims to identify and determine species diversity and richness of the Gastropods of the intertidal zone of Bushehr seaport coastal area and assess the ecological status of this area using Welch index. Sampling was carried out at 6 stations in Bushehr seaport in the winter and summer seasons during 2013-2014. Bed sediment sampling was done three times in each station and Gastropod samples were collected using Quadrate (25×25 cm), and were then preserved using 4 % buffered formalin. The preserved samples were transported to the laboratory and were identified and counted by using valid identification keys. Furthermore, physicochemical properties of water including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and salinity were also measured in each station. According to the results obtained from this study, there were totally 14 species identified from 12 families belonging to 7 orders. The most abundantly identified species in the studied stations belonged to Planaxis sulctus, Cerithidea cingulate, and Anachis misera. In this study species diversity was determined by using Shannon-Weiner index, dominant species were investigated using Simpson index and species richness was calculated using Margalef index. The results of Shannon and Margalef indexes showed significant differences between the sampled stations and seasons (p˂0.05). Moreover, the results of Simpson index showed no significant differences between the sampled stations and seasons (p<0.05). Results of Welch index showed that based on the mentioned indexes in the sampled stations the status of the water quality was classified as average and rather low/weak pollution.