INFLUENCE OF HOST SPECIES, SEX, LENGTH AND DIFFERENT SEASONS ON THE HELMINTH PARASITE INFECTION IN FISHES OF DOLU LAKE, SILCHAR, ASSAM
RATNABIR SINGHA *
DIVISION OF WETLANDS, FISHERY SCIENCE AND AQUACULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCE AND BIOINFORMATICS, ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR-11, INDIA
M. SHOMORENDRA *
FISH DISEASE RESEARCH LAB, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, THAMBAL MARIK COLLEGE, OINAM -795 134, INDIA
DEVASHISH KAR *
DIVISION OF WETLANDS, FISHERY SCIENCE AND AQUACULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCE AND BIOINFORMATICS, ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR-11, INDIA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study was undertaken to determine the influence of host species, sex, length and different seasons on the prevalence of helminth parasite infection in fishes of Dolu Lake. A total number of 42 Heteropneustes fossilis, 111 of Channa punctatus and 46 of Notopterus notopterus were examined for parasitic infection. The results show that 9.52% of the examined H. .fossilis was infected with cestode and nematode while 23.42% of C. punctatus was infected with acanthocephalan, cestode and trematode. And 54.35% of N. notopterus was infected only with nematode parasite. The highest prevalence of infection was 54.35% in N. notopterus and lowest was 9.52% in H. fossilis. Female fishes were more parasitized than males. Autumn is found to be the season of severe parasitic infection where the percentage of infection is higher than the other seasons. Different trends of infection were found in different length groups of host species.
Keywords: Fishes, helminth, sex, length, Dolu Lake, Silchar