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A survey of ectoparasites of Clarias gariepinus caught from theUniversity of Agriculture Research Fish Farm, Makurdi


MU Tachia
S Omeji
MU Tachia

Abstract

Clarias gariepinus caught from University of Agriculture Research Fish Farm, Makurdi were examined for ectoparasites from October – December 2010. Of the one hundred and twenty (120) C. gariepinus examined, 40 (33.3%) were infested and were observed to harbour forty three (43) ectoparasites. Pisciola geometra accounted for 59.1% while Midge larvae accounted for 40.9%. These parasites were observed to occur only on the skin of the infested fish. There was significance difference (P>0.05) in infestation between the sexes of the fish, with male species having relatively higher percentage infection (65.12%) than the female (34.89%). Bigger fishes were observed to have higher ectoparasites than the smaller ones.

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print ISSN: 2141-1778