Labani Halder and Biplab Bhowmik
Abstract
During a survey of trichodinid ciliate parasites in the Churni River System, Ranaghat, West Bengal from November, 2023 to July, 2024, one species of genus Trichodina Ehrenberg, 1830 namely, Trichodina frenata Van As and Basson, 1992 was recorded for the first time in the gill of a cichlid fish, Oreochromis mossambicus (Peter, 1852) from the region. The gills of the fishes were examined after smearing it on grease-free slides followed by staining them using Kleinâs dry silver impregnation technique (Klein, 1958). The previously identified morphological characteristics of the species, provided by other authors are confirmed by providing a comparative description of its morphology. This paper provides the first report of Trichodina frenata Van As and Basson, 1992 from the new host fish, Oreochromis mossambicus (Peter, 1852) in the new locality.