PARASITES OF THE CICHLID FISHES IN WATER RESERVOIR OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

Abstract

A survey of parasites of Tilapia species (Family; Cichlidae) was carried out at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Reservoir. A total of 150 specimens belonging to four genera and species were examined for parasites. Of the total number examined 16.0% were infected with various types of parasites. Parasites encountered during the study included flagellate protozoan, Ichtyobodonecatrix (96.0%), species of annelid, Piscicola sp.(1.6%), species of nematode, Cucullanus sp.(1.6%), and species of cestode, Caryophyllaeidessp (0.8%). This result showed low prevalence of infection as well as low parasites diversity. The prevalence of infection was highest in Oreochromis niloticus (29.0%) and followed in descending order by Hemichromis fasciatus (16.7%), Sarotherodon galilaeus (14.3%)and Tilapia zillii (10.5%). The skin (60.7%), gills (36.9%), stomach (1.6%) and intestine (0.8%) were the locations infected and the skin supported the highest burden. The result also revealed that there were no significant differences between the size/age (X²=0.44; p>0.05)and sex (X²=1.38; p>0.05) and the degree of parasitic infection in this group of fishes. The economic and public health implications of these results in relation to fish-man interactions were discussed.