STUDIES ON SEASONAL PREVALENCE, INTENSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF HELMINTH PARASITES OF LIVE FISHES

The objective of the investigation encompasses the study of the prevalence of infection, intensity and abundance of endohelminths infecting live fishes. A total of 250 fishes comprising of 60 Channa punctata, 60 Clarias batrachus, 60 Heteropneustes fossilis, 40 Anabas testudineus and 30 Notopterus notopterus were collected from various districts of West Bengal from December 2018–January 2019. Detection of endohelminths in sampled fishes and various parameters were studied by standard procedures. Helminth parasites recovered included nematode Eustrongylides sp., trematode Euclinostomum heterostomum and Clinostomum complanatum and acanthocephalan Pallisentis(B.) allahabadii. The nematodes constituted highest prevalence amongst the parasites recovered, in comparison to trematodes and acanthocephalans. Amongst fishes forty three percentage C. punctata, thirty three percentage C. batrachus, twenty six percentage of H. fossilis were found to be infected by helminth parasites. Prominent infection was not detected in A. testudineus and N. notopterus. Thus amongst all the host fishes studied, C. punctata was found to harbour maximum number of endohelminths infecting various visceral organs which might be caused by the increased pollution level in the water bodies.