The occurrence and dynamics of Ligula intestinalis in its cyprinid fish host, tench, Tinca tinca, in Mogan Lake (Ankara, Turkey)

Abstract

Although Ligula intestinalis (L., 1758) has been recorded in several fish hosts, available data on the parasitization parameters of Ligula intestinalis plerocercoids such as prevalence, mean intensity and parasitic index in tench (Tinca tinca L., 1758) is limited. In this study, totally 272 fishes were investigated for the presence of L. intestinalis plerocercoids. The prevalence value was 40.01% of the whole fish sample and the mean intensity was 2.48. The lower IP values and mean intensity levels may provide some evidence of the strategy of Ligula in order to complete its life cycle. None of the parasitization parameters showed significant differences between the sexes.