Record of New Tapeworm, Lytocestus Alii n.sp. from Freshwater Fish Clarias batrachus, (Bleeker, 1862) at Amravati, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Nine specimens of the cestode parasites were recovered from the intestine of Clarias batrachus at Amravati, in the month of March, 1984. They were stained in Borax carmine, whole mount and histological slides of the worm were prepared for detail studies. The mature flattened specimens were long, cylindrical and measure 4.805 in length and 0.674-1.484 in breadth. Morphology and anatomy of the worm is fully discussed in this paper. Keywords:Fish parasite infection, Helminthes, New Tapeworm Lytocestus alii n.sp. Morphology, Anatomy, Clarias batrachus, Amravati, India IntroductionThe genus Lytocestus was introduced by Cohn (1908), with its type species L. adhaerens found in Clarias fuscus in Hong Kong. This genus was first confirmed by Woodland (1926), who included four more species, in addition to the type species, they are L. filiformis Woodland (1923) DescriptionNine specimens of the cestode parasites were recovered from the intestine of Clarias batrachus Bleeker, 1862, at Amravati, in the month of March, 1984. They were stained in Borax carmine, the whole mounts and histological slides were prepared for anatomical studies. The mature flattened specimens are long, cylindrical and measure 4.805 in length and 0.674-1.484 in breadth. The head is anterior and is bluntly oval remarkably narrower than the body, the testes are numerous,580-590 in number, preovarian, scattered in the central medullary region of the worm arranged 9-11 rows, in a single field, evenly distributed, oval in shape and measure 0.053/0.022 to 0.121/0.083 in length and breadth ( Fig.1.A,B