Prevalence of Internal Parasites of Oreochromis niloticus and Clarias gariepinus Fish Species in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia

Jossy Bekele Daniel Hussien

doi:10.4172/2155-9546.1000308

Abstract

A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 in Lake Ziway to determine the prevalence of internal parasites and identify the most common genera infecting fish. A total of 384 randomly selected fish species comprising of 221 Oreochromis niloticus and 163 Clarias gariepinus were sampled. All the sampled fish were eviscerated in laboratory to investigate the internal parasites. Chi-square statistic and comparison of proportion were used to analyse the data. The overall prevalence of internal parasites of fish was 20.83% (80/384). The major internal parasite genera identified in the body of fish were Contracaecum (62.50%), Clinostomum (31.25%) and Eustrongylides (6.25%). The distribution of parasite genera was significantly affected by fish species (p=0.022). However, the difference between sexes was not seemed to be statistically significant (p=0.362) despite the prevalence was slightly higher in male (22.75%) than female (18.97%) fish. In conclusion, fishermen and other people who have developed the habit of consuming raw fish are at higher risk of becoming infected by the zoonotic parasites. Therefore, awareness creation activities and control of fish parasites should be conducted in the study Lake.

Highlights

Ethiopia depends on its inland water bodies for fish supply for its population as a low cost protein source
The result of the current study was comparable to the prevalence of 29.00% in Lake Tana, Ethiopia [11], 17.9% reported in Karachi Fish Harbour, Pakistan [20], 18.5% in a Niger Delta Tidal Creek, Nigeria [21] and 22.22% in Mehran River, Iran [22]
It was higher than the prevalence of 6.94% reported in Okhuo River, Nigeria [23]

Summary

Introduction

Ethiopia depends on its inland water bodies for fish supply for its population as a low cost protein source. The country's water bodies have a surface area estimated at 7334 km of major lakes and reservoirs, and 275 km of small water bodies with 7185 km of rivers within the country [1]. Several of these water bodies serve as sources of fish for the country. The tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and several species of the genera Clarias, Lates, Barbus and Bagrus, ; are the country’s commercially most valuable fish species [4,5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion