Bacteria and Parasite Fauna of Cultured and Wild Clarias gariepinus in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Variation in bacteria and parasite load of Clarias gariepinus from pond and wild environments was determined. Of the 30 samples of C. gariepinus, while 6 healthy from the pond environment were examined with 7 different bacteria isolates, 7 diseased C. gariepinus were examined with 7 bacteria isolates. Also, while 3 healthy samples of C. gariepinus from the wild environment were examined with 6 different bacteria isolates, 14 diseased samples were examined with 10 bacteria isolates. Staphylococcus aureus (73.33%) and Escherichia coli (67.67%) were the most prevalent followed by Aeromonas hydrophyla (40.00%) and Streptococcus spp. (36.67%) among the 10 bacteria isolates recovered from the samples of C. gariepinus. Out of the 30 samples of C. gariepinusfrom the pond environment, 6(20.00%) were infested with 3 species of parasites; Eustrongylides spp. (50.00%), Camallanus spp. (83.33%) and Camallanus riparius (33.33%). Out of the 30 samples of C. gariepinus from the wild environment, 11(36.67%) were infested with 4 species of parasites; Eustrongylides spp. (54.55%), Camallanus spp. (72.73%), Caenorhabditis brigsae (36.36) and Chironomus riparius (6.67%). Generally, samples of C. gariepinus from the pond environment were more parasitized than those from the wild environment. Relative to other body parts, the intestine was most associated with bacteria isolates compared to the gills and skin. During the study period, 3 isolates of parasites (Eustrongylides spp., Camallanus spp. and Caenorhabditis brigsae) were recovered and observed to be most prevalent in the intestine of samples of C. gariepinus from the pond environment, 3 parasite species were also recovered from the parasitized samples of C. gariepinus from the wild. Of the body parts of C. gariepinus from the pond and wild environments, the intestine had the highest percentage of parasite infestation of 86.67% from the pond and 83.33% from the wild while the least 13.33% from the pond and 16.67% from the wild environments were recorded for the gills.