الفهرس 
Ecological studies on economic fish species in Ashtoum El-Gamil protected area (Manzala Lake), Egypt
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Abstract
Ashtoum El-Gamil Protected Area (AGPA) occupies the north eastern part of Manzala Lake. It is classified as a managed resource protected area with several unique ecological features. Besides being one of the most important wetland ecosystems in Egypt, it is considered as internationally important staging, wintering and breeding area for many resident and migratory bird species. It is well known that in such type of protected areas, anthropogenic activities are allowed including fishing, agriculture and aquaculture. Manzala Lake is exposed to high load of pollutants from natural and anthropogenic sources which pass to the lake through several drainage canals. The lake is connected to the Mediterranean Sea at its northern part and to the freshwater drainage canals at its southern part, thus three aquatic habitats are represented in the lake as marine habitat (at the northern part), freshwater habitat (at the southern part) and brackish-water habitat (in between). The present study aims to evaluate seasonal variations of ecosystem conditions during winter and summer seasons along Ashtoum El-Gamil protected area through an integrated approach that included measurement of water quality parameters and metal concentrations (Cu, Zn, Mn, Cd, Pb and Fe) in water, sediment, plankton and fish (mullet, two genera of tilapia and catfish) samples as well as assessment of hazards posed on human consumers and sediment pollution status. Moreover, the main objective was to investigate a set of biomarkers including fish body condition indices and oxidative stress biomarkers. The detected seasonal variation among these parameters showed site-related and species-specific patterns