Abstract:
Goldfish is a familiar ornamental fish in Malaysia. The culture and breeding of
goldfish has contributed to the country economy through import and export
activities. However, the major problem of goldfish is the parasite infection which is
mainly from the ectoparasite such as Argulus sp. High infection of Argulus sp. on
goldfish leads to increase mortality of fish. In order to decrease the Argulus sp.
infection, extract of Entada rheedii was tested to treat Argulus infection on goldfish.
Extract of E. rheedii was used traditionally as a shampoo due to its saponin content
that can eradicate the hair lice. The main objective of this study were to examine
Argulus sp. that infect on goldfish in Perak and also their life cycle stages in
captivity from egg to adult stage. The next objective was to study the survival rate of
goldfish and Argulus sp. after exposure with E. rheedii plant extract. Parasite
identification was done based on the morphological approach by compound and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For life cycle, observation a hand full of
Argulus were maintained in a freshwater aquarium with temperature set at 30°C.
