Abstract
The African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, is generally considered to be one of the most important tropical catfish species for aquaculture purposes. Parasitological investigation was performed in two hundred naturally collected fish samples during the period of February to December 2014. The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites infecting C. gariepinus was investigated. A total of 249 helminth parasites belonging to four genera were recovered from 130 (65%) examined fish samples. They were digenea Orientocreadium batrachoides, cestode Polyonchobothrium clariae, and nematode Procamallanus laevionchus and Camallanus polypteri. Majority of the recorded parasites were found in the intestine. Female fish samples had higher prevalence rate 72 (90%) than males 58 (48.33%), and there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in infestation rate between the two sexes. The relationship of host size (weight/length) and parasite infection showed that there was no significant difference in the parasitic infection among three classes, although fish of larger sizes had more infections. In addition, this study determines the effect of fish age on the prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal parasites.
Highlights
Fish is regarded as the cheapest source of protein among the urban and rural populace [1] [2]
A total of 200 freshwater Clarias gariepinus (Family Clariidae) were collected alive from Lake Manzala at Kafr El-Sheikh governorate by the aid of fishermen and transported a live to laboratory of Parasitological Research in large plastic bags partially filled with water and supplied with a good aeration according to Langdon and Jones [16]
A total of two hundred fish were examined from Lake Manzala, 120 out of the 200 were males while the rest were female (Table 1, Figure 1(a))
Summary
Fish is regarded as the cheapest source of protein among the urban and rural populace [1] [2]. The demand for fish as a source of protein increases as the human population grows [3]. (2015) Prevalence and Intensity of Helminth Parasites of African Catfish Clarias gariepinus in Lake Manzala, Egypt. LazeraValenciennes 1840 being recognized as its junior synonyms [6] This African catfish is widely distributed throughout Africa, inhabiting tropical swamps, lakes and rivers, some of which are subjected to seasonal drying [1]. Akinsanya and Otubanjo [9] reported that fish from African freshwater were infected by a variety of adult helminth parasites ranging from monogenaen, digenean, cestodes, nematodes, acathocephalans and aspidogastrean. This study reports the occurrence and prevalence for some helminth parasites inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract of C. gariepinus in Lake Manzala, Egypt
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