PREVALENCE AND INFESTATION RATE OF INTESTINAL ACANTHOCEPHALAN PARASITE PALLISENTIS NAGPURENSIS IN FRESH WATER FISH, CHANNA STRIATUSNandini N.J. and Siny G. BenjaminAbstract Endoparasitic infestations of intestine by acanthocephalans are very common in the fish Channa striatus that seriously impairs the fish health, growth and survival which in turn results in economic loss. Heavy infestation by these parasites interrupts the normal growth of the fishes. The need for research in this aspect is that the fish farmers will be able to predict any acanthocephalan fish parasitic infestation in their fish farm and also to undertake initiatives in order to prevent these parasitic infections. The study deals with the investigation of Acanthocephalan parasitic infestation in Channa striatus collected from different water bodies of Mavelikara Municipality, Alappuzha district, Kerala. All the fishes collected during the study period were found to be infected with the Acanthocephalan parasite, Pallisentis nagpurensis. The analysis revealed that the males exhibited a slightly higher values of prevalence (77.67%) and mean intensity (1.26) compared to females (Prevalence-72.62%, Mean intensity-1.24). The relative density recorded maximum value in female (0.91). |