A preliminary survey on parasitic occurrence in indigenous climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1972) from West Bengal state of India

Objective: To describe the parasitic infestations of Anabas testudineus (A. testudineus) collected from three different fish producing districts of West Bengal state in India. Methods: A total number of 75 specimens of A. testudineus were collected from different floodplain areas of West Bengal, India. These specimens were examined for parasites using established techniques after measuring basic morphometric parameters. Results: A total 165 individual of 20 parasites (13 ectoparasites and 7 endoparasites) belonging to 7 phyla were recorded from 64 infected A. testudineus. Among the observed parasites, 8 were protozoan including 3 ciliates; 2 monogenic trematodes, 2 strigeidid trematodes, 1 nematode, 3 crustaceans, 3 myxozoans and 1 echinorhynchus acanthocephalan parasites. The quantitative abundance of parasites were highest in gill (37%) followed by body outer layer (35%) and intestine (28%). District wise quantitative count of parasites in different investigated organ from A. testudineus revealed that North 24 Parganas is highly infected followed by West Midnapore and East Midnapore. The highest prevalence (%) and mean abundance of parasitic occurrence was observed in North 24 Parganas followed by West Midnapore and East Midnapore. The highest mean intensity was found at West Midnapore followed by North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore. Conclusions: Especially West Bengal state of India, inland culture and capture fishery mainly rural based and operated by poor farmers. Developing right kind of interventions and management practice can prevent adverse impact of diseases and assist poor farmers for sustainable production.