A study of monogenean gill parasite on cage-cultured red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) in relation to water physico-chemical parameters in como river Kenyir Lake

Abstract

The aquaculture sector has been an important vector for the introduction, transfer and spread of aquatic diseases and parasites. A high impact cage culture project for farming economically important freshwater fishes was launched at Como River, by the Department of Fisheries, Malaysia where heavy mortality and slow growth of fishes was reported. A study on red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.), cultured at Kenyir Lake was conducted using water quality profiles, spatial distribution, monthly prevalence and mean intensity of monogenean infection in relation to water physicochemical parameters of the lake. Monogeneans are of great interest to the ecologist because of their simple life cycle and are considered as one of the important and sensitive parasites to any changes in water quality. A total of 121 of Oreochromis sp. from different size classes were collected from Como River, Kenyir Lake. They were randomly sampled from different cages for a period of 13 months from April 2011 to April 2012.