Morphological characterization and biological control of Alitropus typus (Isopoda: Aegidae)
2017
Shah, Syed Aizaz Ali | Ashraf, Asma | Qureshi, Naveeda Akhtar
The Alitropus typus infestation has a serious influence on fish farming in Pakistan. The present study focuses on the external morphology and control of highly infested ectoparasitic isopod Alitropus typus. Sixteen morphological parameters of the whole body were measured and statistically analyzed for mean, standard error and coefficient of variation by using the student t test. Non‐significant variations were observed in the size of pereopods which depict the significance of swimming and attached to its host. For biological control, different concentrations (1000, 5000 and 10 000 ppm) of a leaf extract of four plants (i.e. Euphorbia helioscopia, Ajuga bracteosa, Cannabis sativa and Callistemon citrinus) were tested against A. typus, and the mortality rates were recorded after 12, 24 and 36 h. One way Anova and Tukey tests were used to analyze the results. The recorded percentage mortality was in the order of E. helioscopia > A. bracteosa > C. sativa, whereas C. citrinus did not showed any toxicity. Concentrations of biochemical components like carbohydrates (mg/g), proteins (mg/g), and lipids (mg/dL) of treated isopods were estimated by the phenol‐sulfuric acid process, Lowry's method and biochemistry analyzer, respectively. The protein contents of the insects tested had decreased markedly as compared to control rates, and this might be due to insecticidal stress caused by the extracts. In another biocontrol experiment, crabs were introduced along with isopods into an aquarium. It was then noted that one crab consumes an average of seven isopods/week and can act as a scavenger for dead organisms.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library