Incidence of piscine parasites on the gills and gastrointestinal tract of clarias gariepinus (teugels) at bagauda fish farm, Kkano

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate piscine parasites of gills and intestinal tract of Clarias gariepinus. Six hundred and forty five (645) specimens of specie were examined fortnightly for a period of one year from November, 2006 to October, 2007. One hundred and fourteen (114) and one hundred and ninety nine (199) were infested fish samples from gills and gastrointestinal tract respectively. Parasites recovered during the survey include two species from gills identified as Ergasilus sarsi ((24.60%) a crustacean (copepod), and one protozoan (myxosporean) named Henneguya sp (11.82%). However, parasites recovered from the GIT composed of four different specie of Cestodes (35.53%) comprising of Anomataenia sp, Bothriocephalus aegypticus, polyonchobothrium polypetri and polychobothrium sp, two species from nematodes (28.13%), with Procaamallinus laevionchus and unidentified specie. All these parasites were located in the intestinal lumen of the specie with the exception of Anomataenia and Procaamallinus species dominating the stomach region only. Females samples had higher incidence rate 235 (75.5%) than males 78 (24.9%), there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in infestation rate. Incidence of infestation among the three sized classes showed adults were mostly infested (69.03%) followed by sub adults (26.82%) with juveniles (4.2%) being the least parasitized. There was significant difference in incidence rate (P<0.05) among the three classes. Analysis of results indicated size influenced the degree of infestation rates in adults' size. And the sex of host did not influence the incidence of the parasites.

Multiple Infections of Helminths in the Stomach and Intestine of Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) In Oba Reservoir, Oyo State, Nigeria.

“…Prevalence of Helminths was higher in the intestine than the stomach, similar to the findings by [13] and [14]. They argued that regional localization in the gut can be attributed to several factors, such as Hydrogen ion concentration, chemotactic response as well as food reserve.…”

“…The mean weight of uninfected samples was considerably higher than infected which suggested a weight loss as a result of infection, this was evidenced in [14] who reported the damage inflicted by infestation of two different species of Polyonchobothrium (Polyonchobothrium polypetri and Polyonchobothrium sp.) in the gut of C. gariepinus.…”

“…Also [14] reported Anomotaenia sp. and an unidentified species of Procamallanus in C. gariepinus as dominating the stomach only.…”

Parasitofauna of Five Freshwater Fishes in a Nigerian Freshwater Ecosystem

“…The non-significant difference in parasite prevalence stratified by sex supports an earlier observation by Akinsanya et al (2007) who recorded a non-significant (p>0.05) difference in the infection rate of male (37.7%) and female (35.5%) of Malapterurus electricus in Lekki Lagoon, Lagos State, Nigeria. In Bagauda Fish Farm, Kano, female Clarias gariepinus had higher occurrence of both the gill (20.7%) and gastrointestinal tract (34.6%) of parasites than that of the gill (11.8%) and gastrointestinal tract (23.6%) of males, although the difference was not significant (p>0.05) (Bichi and Yelwa, 2010). Similarly, (Rahman and Saidin, 2011).…”

“…They constitute a major limiting factor to the growth of farmed fish in Nigeria (Bichi and Yelwa, 2010). The effects of parasites on fish include nutrient devaluation (Hassan et al, 2010); alteration of biology and behaviour (Lafferty, 2008); lowering of immune capability, induction of blindness (Echi et al, 2009 a, b); morbidity, mortality, growth and fecundity reduction (Nmor et al, 2004) and mechanical injuries depending on the parasite species and load (Echi et al, 2009 a, b).…”