Parasites of fish constitute one of the major problems to fish health. Parasites of fish have been a great concern since they often cause disease conditions in fishes. This study described the parasitic faunas of eight fresh water bodies in Edo state (Ikpoba river, Ogba river, Ujogba river, Niger river at Illushi, Obe river, Gelegele river, Niger river at Agenebode and Osomegbe river). The duration of fish sampling was from October, 2017 to November, 2017.The fish samples (whole catch sourced from fishermen) were collected for identification, morphometric analysis and examination for the presence of parasites. One-way ANOVA and Tukey Honest Test were used to compare the data among size classes at the level of p <0.05. Three orders (Lepidosirenformes, Siluriformes and Polyteriformes), eight families (Protopteridae, Clariddidae, Channiddae, Polypterididae, Melapteridae, Clarotidae, Cichlidae and Lorcariidae) and fourteen genera were examined. The study had an overall prevalence of 25.34%. The highest prevalence of fish parasitic infection was recorded in Niger river along Agenebode. Overall, parasite taxa recovered were nematodes (65.50%), trematodes (27.00%), cestodes (4.27%) and acanthcephalans (3.27%). The most infected fish species was Clarias gariepenus (13.77%). The helminth taxa (nematodes) had the highest prevalence of parasites (65.50%). The largest number of parasites isolated was Camallanus cotti (30.43%) and Procamallanus laevionchus (17.39%). This study showed river Niger at Agenebode with most parasitic prevalence, nematodes as the most prevalent parasitic taxa and Clarias gariepenus as the most infected fish species.
Keywords: Edo state, Freshwater fishes, Fish parasites, Helminths, Parasite taxa, Nigeria
