Abstract
Marine aquaculture development is recently impeded by parasitic leech Zeylanicobdella arugamensis (Hirudinea, Piscicolidae) in Sabah, Malaysia. The parasitic leech infests a variety of cultured fishes in aquaculture facilities. In this study, we evaluated the antiparasitic activity of the chromatographic fractions of the medicinal plant Nephrolepis biserrata methanol extract against Z. arugamensis and highlighted the potential metabolites responsible for the antiparasitic properties through liquid chromatography (LC)–quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF)–mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. Out of seven fractions obtained through flash column chromatography techniques, three fractions demonstrated antiparasitic properties. Significant parasitic mortality was indicated by fraction 3 at a concentration of 2.50 mg/mL, all the leeches were killed in a time limit of 1.92 ± 0.59 min. followed by fraction 4 (14 mg/mL) in 34.57 ± 3.39 and fraction 5 (15.3 mg/mL) in 36.82 ± 4.53 min. LC-QTOF-MS analysis indicated the presence of secondary metabolites including phytosphingosine (6), pyrethrosin (1), haplophytine (9), ivalin (2), warburganal (3), isodomedin (4) and pheophorbide a (16), representing sphingoid, alkaloid, terpenoid, phenolic and flavonoid groups. Thus, our study indicated that the chromatographic fractions of N. biserrata demonstrated significant antiparasitic activity against the marine parasitic leeches due to the presence of potent antiparasitic bioactive compounds.
Highlights
Introduction nal affiliationsThe high demand for the fish product and decrement of ocean fisheries due to overfishing and deterioration of coastal environments which have triggered the rapid development of aquaculture facilities in Malaysia and other parts of the world, lead to the expansion of brackish-water and marine aquaculture [1,2]
The sample plant was extracted with methanol and further chromatographic fractions of the methanol extract were obtained by flash column chromatography techniques
No mortality was noticed in the negative control group (Figure 1a) while 100 per cent mortality was recorded in the positive control group treated with 0.25% v/v of formalin solution (Figure 1b)
Summary
The high demand for the fish product and decrement of ocean fisheries due to overfishing and deterioration of coastal environments which have triggered the rapid development of aquaculture facilities in Malaysia and other parts of the world, lead to the expansion of brackish-water and marine aquaculture [1,2]. Fish parasites are responsible for commercial losses in aquaculture and fisheries industries and cause socio-economic implications both in developing and developed countries [5,6]. Different types of parasites including leeches (Annelida), monogeneans (Platyhelminthes), caligids (Crustacea), etc., are affecting various species of fishes [7,8,9,10]. The leech is characterized by having an asymmetrical flattened cylindrical body with anterior and posterior suckers and has been considered to be the most harmful ectoparasite affecting a large variety of species of fish [3,7]. The mortality of the host fish typically occurs within three days following infection due to secondary pathogenic bacterial invasion [3]
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