Parasites of African Catfish Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus Polycultured in Earthen Ponds

Abstract

The prevalence, abundance and mean intensity of parasites of Clarias gariepinus andOreochromis niloticus polycultured in three large earthen ponds in Nigeria wereanalyze in this paper. The ponds receive both water and fish from a dam fed by AnyaRiver and Amaoba streams. The major ectoparasite of both fish was Trichodinaheterodentata. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the prevalence ofTrichodina heterodentata on both O. niloticus (34.71±0.01%) and C. gariepinus(34.5±0.04%). Abundance and mean intensity of T. heterodentata were significantly(P