Metazoan parasite communities of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluridae) in Benin (West Africa)

Abstract

The need for more precise information on the effect of dry season on fish parasite communities in Benin lead us to undergo a focus during this season in one of the major sites of collection fry by fish farmers.Metazoan parasites were then inventoried in 166 specimens of catfishes which constituted of C larias gariepinus, Clarias ebriensis, Synodontis schall, Synodontis nigrita, and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (Teleostei: Siluridae). Those fishes were collected from fishermen of Agonlin-Lowé at the side of Oueme River in south Benin from November 2011 to March 2012. In total, 12 parasite species were listed comprising three Monogena (Gyrodactylus sp., Synodontella sp., and Protoancylodiscoides chrysichthes), three Cestoda (Stoeksia pujehuni, Lytocestus sp., and Cestode indeterminate), five Nematoda (Paracamallanus cyathopharynx, Procamallanus laevionchus, Cithariniella petterae, Synodontisia thelastomoides, and nematode indeterminate), and one indeterminated Copepod species. Total infestation rate varied between 83.87 and 100% for the different fish species. This was high but independent of fish sex (χ(2) = 1.669, df = 4, nonsignificant). The highest mean intensity and mean abundance were, respectively, 44 and 13.33. Monogenea and Nematoda have elevated frequency of dominance, and their presence in the host is significantly correlated (r = -0.999; p < 0.05). Clariids were highly infected by Nematoda. Except for P. laevionchus and Proteoancylodiscoides, respectively, in C. gariepinus and in C. nigrodigitatus, the parasites showed clumped distribution. The component community diversity, as measured by the Shannon index (H'), revealed that S. schall had the most parasite diversity.

Endo and Ecto Parasite Prevalence and Abundance in Some Fish Species From Akomoje, Ogun River South-West Nigeria

“…The highest percentage intensity of the Myxozoan spp. and its abundance in O.niloticus and H. fasciatus reported in this study is corroborated by the study of Tossavi et al (2014), Ugbor et al (2014). Also, Karvonen & Valtonen (2004) and Okoye et al (2014) documented the richness of the tropical fresh waters in their parasitic species burdens.…”

Occurrence of Tetracampos sp. (Cestoda) and Paracamallanus sp. and Rhabdochona sp. (Nematoda) in the catfish Clarias gariepinus in Ouémé River in Benin (West Africa)

“…The sampling zone (Agonlin-Lowé) in the delta of Ouémé River (Benin, West Africa) (reproduced with permission from [9]. Copyright © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg).…”

“…In particular, fish helminth parasites are not widely studied in Benin. To date, only a few authors provided data essentially on myxozoan parasites [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Few data on fish helminth parasites were generated describing only monogenean parasites [12].…”

Assessing the Diversity of Metazoan Parasites of Sarotherodon melanotheron (Cichlidae) from Inlands Waters in Southern Benin (West Africa)

“…Fish in their several specifities, could serve as host of parasites that are harmful to human and animals. In Benin, some parasitological investigations were made on Cichlids [1][2][3][4][5][6]; Silurids [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and Channids [2,9,10]. Concerning the Cichlids, the main research focused on the genus Oreochromis [11][12][13][14][15] within the continent.…”