Seeds of Cucurbita maxima and Carica papaya are effective for controlling monogeneans in the gills of Leporinus macrocephalus

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the anthelminthic efficacy of seeds of Cucurbita maxima and Carica papaya for controlling monogeneans in the gills of Leporinus macrocephalus, besides hepatosomatic and splenosomatic index and condition factor of host. The fish were fed with seeds of C. maxima or C. papaya for seven days, and these treatments did not cause any mortality among them. Jainus leporini, Urocleidoides paradoxus, Urocleidoides eremitus and Tereancistrum parvus were the monogeneans found, and their prevalence in fish fed with seeds of C. papaya was 100%, while in fish fed with C. maxima the prevalence was 42.8%. Fish fed with seeds of C. papaya showed decreased in intensity and abundance of monogeneans, while fish fed with seeds of C. maxima presented decreased in abundance. Feeding of L. macrocephalus with seeds of C. maxima or C. papaya had efficacy of 69.6 and 67.8%, respectively. The hepatosomatic index of fish fed with seeds of C. maxima or C. papaya was not affected by the treatments. However, the splenosomatic index and condition factor of fish fed with C. maxima seeds decreased. Seeds of C. maxima and C. papaya may be used for controlling monogeneans of L. macrocephalus in fish farming.

Albendazole is effective for controlling monogenean parasites of the gills of Piaractus brachypomus (Serrasalmidae) and Megaleporinus macrocephalus (Anostomidae)

“…Fish organ indices such as the hepatosomatic index is an indirect measure of glycogen and carbohydrate levels, and can be used to indicate the nutritional state of the fish. Splenosomatic index is a measure of both the immune status and hematopoietic capacity of the fish (Tavares-Dias et al, 2000;Voorhees et al, 2019;Negreiros et al, 2022). The differences in hepatosomatic index values between treatments with albendazole in P. brachypomus and M. macrocephalus indicate a variation in the consumption of stored energy.…”

“…Hence, parasitic diseases are most common in the farming of these fish species and are among the factors that strongly interfere with their growth (Martins et al, 2017;Negreiros & Tavares-Dias, 2019;Negreiros et al, 2021). Among the main taxa of disease-causing parasites in P. brachypomus (Negreiros & Tavares-Dias, 2019) and M. macrocephalus (Martins et al, 2002(Martins et al, , 2017Negreiros et al, 2021Negreiros et al, , 2022 are helminths monogeneans.…”

“…Monogeneans are parasitic helminths with a short and direct life cycle, the vertical transmission of which facilitates infestation levels in intensive fish farming that cause several disorders in the animal (Alves et al, 2019;Negreiros et al, 2022); such as the excessive production of mucus in the skin and gills, as well as hyperplasia, edema, the fusion of the secondary lamellae, and branchial necrosis (Tavares-Dias et al, 2021). Furthermore, secondary lesions caused by other pathogens, such as fungi and bacteria can result.…”

“…The management and control of infestations caused by monogeneans poses a constant challenge for fish farming, as it is greatly complicated by the limited availability of licensed anthelmintic drugs, with varying degrees of effectiveness (Alves et al, 2019;Negreiros et al, 2022). In addition, the various chemical drugs that have been used against these parasites present certain problems, such as low efficacy, solubility and specificity, toxicity to host, and resistance (Santamarina et al, 1991;Tojo et al, 1992;Buchmann et al, 1992;Forwood et al, 2013;Alves et al, 2019;Tavares-Dias, 2021).…”