Ghazala Siddiqui's research while affiliated with University of Karachi and other places

... Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in aquatic organisms can have implications on human health and ecosystem (Aslam et al. 2022). The major hazardous impacts of heavy metals bioaccumulation on human health are toxicity to the renal, nervous, and reproductive systems, in addition to mutations and endocrine disruption (Brar et al. 2010). ...

... After bioaccumulation, the responses of these organisms under pollution stress, including their resistance responses, are of great interest. Pollutants (inorganic and organic) affect the immune responses of gastropods and unfortunately heavy metals/metalloids are abundantly distributed in marine ecosystems today (Aslam et al., 2020a(Aslam et al., , 2022Chan et al., 2021a,b). ...

... Many species are very complex morphologically, therefore, the DNA bar code-based identifications are being appreciated worldwide. The molecular-based taxonomic investigations on Mollusca species from Pakistani coastal waters are limited to the work of (Zafar et al., 2016;Humayun et al., 2019;George et al., 2021). ...

... In the Asian region, Quan et al. (2020) from Liyashan, China reported 31 species of macrofauna associated with intertidal oyster reef which was significantly less than our present study. Aslam et al. (2020) from Pakistan, on the other hand reported the maximum number of macrofaunal species (122) associated with intertidal reef (Magallana cuttackensis and M. bilineata), with a density nearly similar to the density identified in our present study. By employing both the quadrat and cast net methods, Aslam et al. (2020) was able to record greater number of species (Table 4). ...

... differs from most other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: the cuticula is strongly reticulated; the proboscis is conical, bent forward; there is no tubercle on coxa 1 (except on the fourth legs); the tibia 2 is very short, about as long as wide, and shorter than the propodus. Three other species of Pycnogonum share these characters: P. tesselatum Stock, 1968 from Pakistan, which has, however, a proboscis broader at the tip and a rounded abdomen (Stock 1968a;George et al. 2020); P. clarki Staples, 2002 from Australia, which differs from P. cesairei by its more rounded dorsal tubercles, a more deeply incised dichotomy of propodus spines, the presence of a bulge on the posterodorsal end of the abdomen, the presence of tubercles on the lateral processes of the fourth trunk segment and no bifurcated spine on the legs (Staples 2002); and P. madagascariensis Bouvier, 1911 from Madagascar. For this latter species, we reexamined the syntypes of Bouvier (1911a): the proboscis of P. madagascariensis is barrel-shaped (Arnaud 1971), the tibia 2 of P. madagascariensis is shorter than wide, while tibia 2 is about as long as wide in P. cesairei, and the abdomen of P. madagascariensis presents a distinctive posterodorsal bulge (visible in Arnaud 1971) with two distal rounded tips lateral to the anus, both characters not being present in P. cesairei. ...

... Studies on polychaetes from Pakistan were date back almost over a century. Aggarwala (1924), Bindra (1923Bindra ( , 1927, Fauvel (1932Fauvel ( , 1953, Aziz (1938), Bhatti and Sufi (1949), Hasan (1960), Ashraf (1968), Ahmad (1969), Ahmad and Ashraf (1973), Ahmad et al., (1982), Habib and Mustaquim (1988), Siddiqui and Mustaquim (1988), Rehana and Mustaquim (1989), Mustaquim (1990Mustaquim ( , 1991aMustaquim ( , 1991bMustaquim ( , 1995Mustaquim ( , 1997Mustaquim ( , 2000, Swaleh and Mustaquim (1993), Ishaq and Mustaquim (1996), Wehe and Fiege (2002), Mustaquim (2003, 2005), Mushtaq and Mustaquim (2006a;2006b), Kazmi and Naushaba (2010;2013), Khanum and Mustaquim (2012), Reuscher and Fiege (2016), Kazmi et al. (2019), Arshad et al. (2019), Moazzam and Moazzam (2019), Khatoon et al. (2020) and Khan et al. (2019Khan et al. ( , 2022 studied on different aspects of polychaete fauna from Pakistan especially Sind Coast. There are still new species records are being reported frequently from Pakistan. ...

... April was the month with highest number of species observed. A near-round natural pearl was discovered in the edible oyster Magallana bilineata (Aslam et al., 2019a). Haminoea cf. ...

... The soil invertebrate samples were digested using a mixture of 3 ml of HCl and 5 ml of concentrated HNO 3 at 80 °C in a microwave until no solid material was observed in the solution. Ten milliliters of distilled water was added to the volume (Aslam et al., 2020;Timmermans et al., 1992). Then, all the digests were filtered and stored in 50-ml polypropylene tubes. ...

... Imposex is caused by leaching organotin content found in antifouling paints that have been used on ship hulls since decades (Titley 0-Neal, 2011;Afsar and Siddiqui, 2015). Some of the basic research on the subject of environmental biomonitoring related to toxic organotin contamination and the associated phenomenon of imposex from Pakistani waters had been carried out by the following workers (Afsar et al., 2012a(Afsar et al., , b, c, 2013a(Afsar et al., , b, 2015Hassan et al., 2019). Due to international ban imposed by IMO (international maritime organization) to restrict the use of organotin based antifouling paints on ship hulls from 2003 to 2008 now this global issue has turn into control overall in port areas. ...

... Histological examination found no parasites; however, necrosis in some tissues and mortality was observed. This study suggests that the present reefs are viable and have potential for successful restoration and may be converted into a sizeable ecological sanctuary (Aslam et al., 2020a). ...