Abstract
This study identified the parasitic species in juvenile freshwater finfishes during the fattening stage, from a fish farm located in the Zona da Mata (MG), southeastern Brazil, and revealed both macro and microscopical lesions in fish gills. A total of 172 juvenile fishes of different species (Oreochromis niloticus, Ictalurus punctatus, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cyprinus carpio, Astyanax bimaculatus and Brycon amazonicus) were transported to a laboratory in São Paulo city. The fish were sedated and then euthanized for parasitological analysis. All fish were infected by at least one parasite species. Ten different species of parasites were identified: Apiosoma sp., Epistylis sp., Ichthyobodo sp., trichodinids, Piscinoodinium pillulare, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Tetrahymena sp., monogeneans, Centrocestus formosanus metacercariae, and Dermocystidium sp. The best management practices and lack of sanitary control were also discussed.
Highlights
Despite capture fisheries production being static since the 1980s, overall fish production has continued to grow because of aquaculture
The number of fish sampled from each species was 72 Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (1.6 ± 2.4 g and 4.4 ± 1.5 cm long), 23 channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (1.1 ± 0.5 g and 5.2 ± 0.8 cm long), 22 grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (1.8 ± 1.1 g and 5.2 ± 1.3 cm long), 19 common carp, Cyprinus carpio (0.4 ± 0.6 g and 2.6 ± 0.4 cm long), 19 two-spot astynax, Astyanax bimaculatus (0.9 ± 0.6 g and 4.0 ± 0.7 cm long), and 17 redtailed brycon, Brycon amazonicus (1.3 ± 0.5 g and 4.6 ± 0.5 cm long)
The most predominant and with the highest intensity infections were of C. formosanus and trichodinids
Summary
Despite capture fisheries production being static since the 1980s, overall fish production has continued to grow because of aquaculture. In 2016, aquaculture comprised 46.8% of global fish production, producing 80 million tons worth US$231.6 billion (FAO, 2018). Brazil represented the 13th largest aquaculture producer, with 640,510 tons of fish produced (Baptista et al, 2018; FAO, 2018), and in 2019, the amount increased to 758,006 tons (Carvalho et al, 2020). In contrast to other animal protein production activities, aquaculture displays significantly superior growth both globally and in Brazil (Schulter & Vieira, 2017; FAO, 2018). A factor contributing to this expansion is the high productivity per hectare (60 times higher than beef cattle production) as a result of intensive aquaculture system (Schulter & Vieira, 2017). Some issues emerge along with this system, such as appropriate management, water quality, biosecurity, and disease and parasite control (El-Sayed, 2006)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
