Occurrence of <i>Tetracampos ciliotheca</i> and <i>Proteocephalus glanduligerus </i>in <i>Clarias gariepinus</i> (Burchell, 1822) collected from the Vaal Dam, South Africa
2013
Grace Madanire-Moyo | Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage
Cestodes are parasitic flatworms that live in the digestive tract of vertebrates as adults and often in the liver, muscle, haemocoel, mesentery and brain of various animals as larval stages. To identify the cestodes infecting <em>Clarias gariepinus</em> Burchell, 1822 (sharptooth catfish) in the Vaal Dam, a total of 45 host specimens were collected with the aid of gill nets between October 2011, January and April 2012. The fish were sacrificed and examined for cestode parasites. Two adult cestodes, <em>Tetracampos ciliotheca</em> Wedl, 1861 (prevalence 86.7%, mean intensity = 15,<em> n</em> = 45) and <em>Proteocephalus glanduligerus</em> (Janicki, 1928) (prevalence 51.1%, mean intensity = 5, <em>n</em> = 45) were found in the intestines of the catfish. Both <em>T. ciliotheca</em> and <em>P. glanduligerus</em> are new locality records. There were statistically insignificant differences in the infection of the male and female <em>C. gariepinu</em>. Fish with standard length ranging from 40 cm – 54 cm (≥ 3 years) had the highest prevalence and mean intensity while those ranging from 10 cm – 24 cm (< 1 year) had the lowest prevalence and mean intensity for both cestodes. The study highlights the importance of changing feeding habits of <em>C. gariepinus </em>with age on the prevalence and mean intensity of the two gastrointestinal cestode parasites.
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