International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.5, 29-37
29
Research Article Open Access
Determination of Seasonal Occurrence of
Camallanus sp.
and
Ligula intestinalis
on Fresh Usipa,
Engraulicypris sardella
from Selected Mzuzu Markets, Malawi
Charles Watchipa Mgwede, Orton Msiska
Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201, Malawi
Corresponding author Email
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.5 doi
Received: 12 Feb., 2018
Accepted: 05 Mar., 2017
Published: 23 Mar., 2017
Copyright © 2018
Mgwede and Msiska, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Mgwede C.W., and Msiska O., 2018, Determination of seasonal occurrence of
Camallanus sp.
and
Ligula intestinalis
on fresh Usipa,
Engraulicypris sardella
from selected Mzuzu markets, Malawi, International Journal of Aquaculture, 8(5): 29-37 (doi
Abstract
This study assessed the seasonality of two parasites,
Camallanus sp.
and
Ligula intestinalis
on fresh
E. sardella
from
selected Mzuzu markets in Malawi. Samples were collected during the cold, dry and rainy seasons and the determination of the
parasites was conducted to quantify by calculation of prevalence rates and mean intensities of the parasites during the three seasons.
These parasites were located in gills and the gastrointestinal cavity respectively. No parasites were observed during the cold season.
A total of 46 parasites were observed during the dry season and 28 parasites were observed during the rainy season out of two
hundred samples per season. The prevalence rates for the cold, dry and rainy seasons were 0%, 21% and 13% respectively and
corresponding mean intensities of 0, 1.1 and 1.08 respectively. The study revealed seasonal variations of prevalence rates and the
mean intensities of the parasites. The cold season registered the lowest prevalence rate and mean intensity. These findings indicate a
strong interaction of parasite with the environment, the host fish and other fish behavioural factors such as feeding and foraging. The
findings suggest that the proliferation of some parasites in
E. sardella
is influenced by ecological dynamics of the habitats as well as
the seasonal variations.
Keywords
Ligula intestinalis
;
Camallanus sp.
; Prevalence rates; Mean intensity; Seasonal variations
Background
Parasitism is the relationship between organisms in which the parasite benefits at the expense of the host organism
(Roberts and Janovy, 2005) and it is a common phenomenon in most ecological systems (Madanire-Moyo and
Barson, 2010). Fish may be final or intermediate hosts of the parasites like cestodes (Sharma, 2016) with intensity
of infection varying from one species to another due to physiological and ecological differences (Nimbalkar et al.,
2010). The presence of parasites debilitates the fish and affects their quality leading to economic losses on the
market (Bhuiyan et al., 2007; Maguza-Tembo and Mfitilodze, 2008; Sumuduni et al., 2015). Khurshid and Ahmad
(2012) attribute the severity of the parasite infection to climate of a particular area. The fish under study,
E.
sardella
have a fast growing short-life history pattern, endemic to Lake Malawi and spawns throughout the year
mainly during the rainy season (Maguza-Tembo et al., 2009). Although some study was conducted on
Ligula
intestinalis
infection in
E. sardella
in southern Lake Malawi by (Rusuwa et al., 2014), no work has been done on
the parasitic fauna of
E. sardella
that is sold in Mzuzu city from northern Lake Malawi in relation to seasonal
population dynamics. Cestodes,
L. intestinalis
cause ligulosis in humans if they are infected when they consume
raw or undercooked fish meat (Urdes and Hangan, 2013; Ahmadiara, 2017). Therefore, this study was conducted
to determine the parasitic load of fresh
E. sardella
in relation to different seasons of the year with focus on the
prevalence rate and the mean intensity of the identified parasite species.
1 Materials and Methods
1.1 Study area and sample collection
The study took place in the city of Mzuzu which has three distinct seasons namely, cold (June and July), dry
(October and November) and rainy (January and February). A total of two hundred fish were collected during
each season randomly from the selected markets shown in Figure 1. They were taken fresh to the laboratory for
examination.
