International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.5, 29-37
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Figure 1 The sketch map of Mzuzu city showing some open markets
1.2 Fish examination and parasite identification
Specimen preparation and examination were done following procedures by Akinsanya et al. (2007), Biu et al.
(2014), Sumuduni et al. (2015) and Edeh and Solomon (2016) while parasites identification were done according
to Parpena (1996), Klinger and Floyd (2002) and Pouder et al. (2005).
The skin, gills, internal parts, the eye and the gastrointestinal cavity were examined by scraping using a scalpel.
Dissecting and compound microscopes up to 400×magnification were used to examine the specimen on the slides.
The recovered parasites were preserved in 70% ethanol for further identification.
Skin scrape was put on the slide with water drop added and examined under the compound microscope. The eye
and the intestines were dissected and contents mounted on the microscope for observation. Gill and heart tissues
were also placed on the slide for examination while bigger parasites were removed using forceps and identified.
The parasites species and location in the host species were recorded.
The calculations of prevalence rate and mean intensity were done according to Ezenwanji et al. (2005), as follows:
