SURVEY OF PARASITES OF Synodontis schall IN DADIN KOWA DAM, GOMBE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Parasitic disease of fish seems to be one of the major problems confronting fish culturists. A
parasitic infestation leads to serious consequences especially to the nutritive devaluation of the
fish. Therefore the Endoparasites and Ectoparasites of Synodontis schall (up-side down catfish)
from Dadin Kowa dam were investigated. In this research, there was no ectoparasite found in
this research. Out of the 50 specimen examined, there was no ectoparasite. However, 27 were
found to be infected by three species of endoparasites viz: Eustrongylides sp, Procallamus sp
and Diphyllobothrium latum were recovered from the stomach and intestine of the sampled fish
species. A total of 90 helminthes were identified from Synodontis schall; Nematodes accounted
for (83.34%) and Cestode (16.67%). There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the parasite
load between the male and female species when examined statistically. The females of the fish
species had higher parasitic prevalence (34.0%) than the males (20.0%) suggests that females
may be more prone to infection during breeding periods. It was also observed that the intestine of
the sampled fish had higher percentage parasite load suggesting that fish diet in the fishing
ground were responsible for high rate of infestation of Synodontis schall. Therefore, it is
recommended that there is need for proper cooking of fish before consumption.