Metazoan Ectoparasites of Edible Freshwater Fishes of Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Ectoparasites like copepods and monogeneans of fishes cause serious damage in the aquaculture industry. Five species of freshwater fishes collected from different freshwater bodies of Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh were analysed for ectoparasitic infection. This communication recorded five species of ectoparasites, out of which three were monogenean species and two copepod species. They were recovered from gill filaments and skin of fishes. The parasites recovered include Dactylogyrus catalius, Bychowskyella wallagonia, Thaparocleidus tengra, Ergasilus malnadensis and Argulus siamensis. Among the fish hosts examined in present study, Catla catla and Labeo rohita were found to be most common hosts for ectoparasites. All five parasitic species reported were redescriptions and they were described briefly. Out of five species recovered in the present study, four species (B. wallagonia, T. tengra, E. malnadensis and A. siamensis) are new locality records. Keeping in view the importance of these ectoparasites, the present study was designed to investigate the status of their ectoparasite communities (prevalence, mean intensity and nature of recovered species) in freshwater fishes of this district.