Parasites of Three Indian Minor Carps of Rajs']jshahi, Bangladesh

The present study attempts to describe the parasitic infestations of three Indian minor carps (Labeo bata, Labeo gonius and Cirrhinus reba) collected from different fresh water bodies of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh during March 2007 to February 2008. A total of 480 host fishes were examined of which 370 fishes were infected by 4 protozoan (Trichodina sp., lchthyophthirius sp., Apiosoma sp. and Chilodonella sp.), 2 monogenean (Gyrodactylus sp. and Dactylogyrus sp.), 2 crustacean (Argulus sp. and Larnaea sp.), 1 digenean (Fellodistomum sp.) and 1 nematoda (Camallanus sp.) parasitic species. These parasites were isolated from body slime, gills and intestine of the infected fishes. Among the isolated parasites Fellodistomum sp. was found as the highest and Chilodonella sp. was found as the lowest in number. Our results indicate that infection and infestation rate of parasites varied with fish size and season and found to be high in the post-monsoon and winter periods (November-March), when fish are most susceptible to parasites.