Occurrence of metazoan parasites of the mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L. 1758) in a fish farm, Uluabat, Bursa, Turkey

Abstract

Metazoan parasite of the mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in a fish farm ponds, Bursa, Turkey was investigated from April 2005 to March 2006. Sixty four out of 79 mirror carps were infected with one or more of the four parasite species - Dactylogyrus extensus, D. anchoratus and Paradiplozoon homoion (Monogenea) on the host gills and Argulus foliaceus (Crustacea) on oral cavitiy, gills, fins and skin. D. extensus was the most frequent having an overall prevalence of 39.2%. P. homoion was 54.4%. The third most prevalent parasite was D. anchoratus with overall prevalence of 25.3%. A. foliaceus showed overall prevalence of 43.03%. At the end of this study, when P. homoion was recorded as parasite species being the highest overall prevalence, D. extensus was observed in the highest intensity. D. extensus, D. anchoratus and P. homoion were recorded for the first time in the mirror carp in Turkey.