Prevalence and intensity of Allocreadium isoporum (Digenea: Allocreadiidae) in three endemic species of cyprinids (Capoeta spp.) in Turkey, in relation to season, host size and sex

Abstract

Three species of cyprinids, i.e., Capoeta antalyensis (n = 112), C. caelestis (n = 99) and C. angorae (n = 178) were collected from the Anatolian Region of Turkey to carry out this investigation. A total of 389 specimens of Capoeta were examined for Allocreadium isoporum infections throughout the four different seasons of 2012. The prevalence and mean intensity of infection of A. isoporum was investigated in relation to the host species, the seasons across the year, host size, and sex. Two-hundred and twenty-two specimens of a trematode identified as A. isoporum were found in these fishes. Onehundred seventy-eight C. angorae were caught, and 70 A. isoporum were recorded in 8 of 178 fish examined, with prevalence and mean intensity of infection of 4.49% and 8.7% parasites per infected fish, respectively. In the 112 specimens of C. antalyensis, 73 individuals of A. isoporum were found, with a prevalence of 19.6% and a mean intensity of 3.3. As for the infection in C. caelestis, a total of 79 specimens of A. isoporum were found in 17 of the 99 fish examined, with prevalence and mean intensity of infection of 17.1% and 4.6%, respectively. Prevalence and mean intensity values in relation to host size and sex, as well as the seasonality of infections was analyzed and the results were compared with other studies. The trematode A. isoporum is reported for the first time parasitising three endemic species of Capoeta spp. in Turkey, adding to the knowledge of geographical distribution and host range of this trematode species.

Effect of Locality, Host Species and Sex on the Metazoan Parasitic Infestation of Two, Species of <i>Scarus</i> Fish from the Red Sea Coast at Jeddah and Rabigh in Saudi Arabia

“…Another interesting finding was found in Jeddah where no female fish showed any infestation as opposed to male that showed infestation with only parasitic crustacea (Isopoda and Copepoda). Our findings are different to Khalil [20], Barse [5], Adou et al [21] and Aydogdu et al [22] who found no definite difference in the prevalence and intensity of parasitic infestation according to fish sex.…”

Morphological and molecular evidence for the recognition ofAllocreadium bursensisn. sp. (Trematoda: Allocreadiidae) from Angora loachOxynoemacheilus angoraefrom Turkey

“…Generally, the differentiation of the species was based on a combination of external (ventral and oral suckers’ ratio; body length and width; and its ratio to forebody) and internal (cirrus pouch configuration; uterine extension in hindbody; egg size; disposition of anterior border of vitellarium; esophagus length) features. Based on detailed morphological assessment of found trematodes, we concluded that these worms are significantly different from other Allocreadium spp., in particular A. isoporum from Europe (Looss 1894; Slusarski 1958), but with notable similarity to A. isoporum reported from Turkey (Aydoğdu et al 2018).…”

“…and the Turkish A. isoporum (Aydogdu et al . 2018) morphologically diverge in relation to true European A. isoporum in having the vitellarium reaching the mid-level of ventral sucker length vs. the vitellarium not reaching the ventral sucker.…”

“…Of these the genus Allocreadium is represented by only two species. Allocreadium isoporum (Looss 1894) Looss, 1902 was described from nine freshwater fish species in Turkey (Aydogdu et al 2002; Koyun & Altunel 2007; Öztürk 2014; Koyun et al 2015, 2016; Aydogdu et al 2018), whereas A. lobatum Wallin, 1909 was recorded only from Blicca bjoerkna in the Sakarya River by Akmirza and Yardimci (2014). In recent phylogenetic studies nine valid species of Allocreadium have been confirmed: A. isoporum , A. lobatum , A. gotoi (Hasegawa & Ozaki, 1926) Shimazu, 1988, A. crassum (Wesenberg-Lund, 1934), A. neotenicum Peters, 1957, A. hemibarbi Roitman, 1963, A. khankaiensis Vainutis, 2020, A. apokryfi Dos Santos, Gilbert, Avenant-Oldewage & Dumbo, 2021, A. pseudoisoporum Vainutis, Voronova, Urabe & Kazarin, 2023 (Vainutis 2020; Dos Santos et al 2021; Vainutis et al 2023).…”