The occurrence of parasitic helminths of Capoeta umbla hi relation to seasons, host size, age and gender of the host in Murat river, Turkey

Abstract

In this study, helminth parasites were examined in Capoeta umbla (Heckel, 1843, Family; Cyprinidae), collected from Spring 2010-2011 from the Murat river in Turkey, to determine the effects of seasonal changes, host size, ages and sex on the incidence of the parasitic helminth infection. A total of 128 C. umbla individuals were examined for parasitic helminth infection. The results show that 84.38% of the examined host fishes were infected with different types of helminth species. Three helminth species were identified: Dactylogyrus lenkorani and Dogielius forceps (Monogenea) on the gills and Neoechinorhynchus zabensis (Acanthocephala) in the intestine. Among these species, D. lenkorani was the most common species and a total of 2830 specimens were recorded on 103 fish. The overall prevalence and mean intensity were 80 and 23.11%, respectively. D. forceps was the second dominant parasite in this study. A total of 179 parasites were found and the overall prevalence was 64%. The third most prevalent parasite was N. zabensis with overall prevalence and mean intensity of 2.3 and 4%, respectively. Regarding seasonal variations, the prevalence of D. forceps was observed to peak in Winter. Its mean intensity level was highest in Spring (3, 30). For D. lenkorani, the highest prevalence was observed in Summer (100%). Prevalence levels of N. zabensis were, rather low and this species was also not detected in Spring and Autumn. This is the first record of these three helminth parasites in C. umbla for Turkey, so these findings are very important for the parasite fauna of Turkey. © Medwell Journals, 2012.