Acta Adriatica, Vol. 52 No. 1, 2011.
Original scientific paper
Seasonality and histopathology of Trichodina puytoraci Lom, 1962, a parasite of flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) from Tunisia
Chiraz YEMMEN
orcid.org/0000-0001-9524-0522
; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tunis El-Manar
Mohamed Hédi KTARI
; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tunis El-Manar
Sihem BAHRI
; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tunis El-Manar
Abstract
During a parasitological survey in Ghar El Melh Lagoon in Tunisia, 108 flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus L., 1758) were investigated for protozoan ectoparasites. Trichodina puytoraci Lom, 1962 infecting the gills of the examined fish were isolated and reported for the first time from this locality. The overall infestation prevalence and mean intensity level were 22.42 % and 70 ± 8.1 trichodinids per fish, respectively. The highest prevalence was observed in spring. The relationship between host’s size and parasite prevalence was significant. The histopathological study revealed that M. cephalus heavily infested by T. puytoraci exhibited serious lesions such as hyperplasia of the epithelial cells, fusion and necrosis of secondary lamellae.
Keywords
Trichodina puytoraci; Mugil cephalus; prevalence; mean intensity; histopathology; Tunisia
Hrčak ID:
89580
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2011.
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