IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 Parasites of Fishes Collected from Tigris River, Salah Al- Deen Province, Iraq F. S. Al-Nasiri ,F. T. Mhaisen Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Tikreet Department of Basic Science, College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad Abstract A total of 109 fish specimens belonging to six species (Barbus grypus, B. luteus, B. xanthopterus, Cyprinion macrostomum, Cyprinus carpio and Liza abu) were collected from Tigris river passing through Salah Al-Deen province during the period from September 2008 till January 2009. These fishes were infected with nine parasite species which included two sporozoans (Myxobolus mülleri and Dermocystidium percae), three ciliates (Trichodina cottidarum, T. elegini and T. murmanica) and four monogenetic trematodes (Dactylogyrus rhodeianus, D. vastator, Paradiplozoon cyprini and Microcotyle donavini). Among these parasites, two trichodinids (T. elegini and T. murmanica) were reported for the first time from fishes of Iraq. Also, B. grypus is considered as a new host in Iraq for both D. percae and M. mülleri. Apart from D. vastator and P. cyprini, all the remaining seven parasite species were recorded here for the first time from fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. Among the inspected fishes, both B. grypus and L. abu harbored the highest number of parasite species (three each), followed by C. carpio (two parasite species) and B. luteus (one parasite species). Introduction As parasites are among the deleterious factors in growth and other life aspects of fishes (1, 2), the knowledge of the parasitic fauna of fishes is so important to take measures for their control (3). For this reason, surveys are conducted everywhere to gain basic knowledge on the parasitic fauna of fishes. According to Mhaisen (4), a total of 216 reports are available on the parasites of freshwater fishes of Iraq (exclusive of 88 reports on parasites of farm fishes). Among such reports, only four were done on the parasitic fauna of fishes of Salah Al-Deen province (5, 6, 7, 8) in addition to three reports which included some data on parasites of fishes of this province (9, 10, 11). These seven reports represent 3.2% of the total number of reports on parasites of freshwater fishes of Iraq (exclusive of those of farm fishes). This percentage is so IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 low in comparison with 35.2% for Basrah province or even with 27.3% for the neighboring province of Nineva. The scarce information on the parasitic fauna of fishes of Salah Al-Deen province was behind the task of conducting the present study. Materials and Methods During the period from September 2008 till January 2009, fish samples were collected from Tigris river passing through Salah Al-Deen province at Al-Alam and Albu-Ajeel regions, about 4-5 km east of Tikreet city. Gill nets (mesh size of 2.5, 4.5 and 6.5 cm) and cast nets (mesh size 1.5 cm) were used. Fishes were examined for parasites according to Amlacher (1). Skin and gill smears were prepared and microscopically examined. Upon dissection of these fishes, their body cavity and all internal organs were inspected for internal parasites. Squashes from some internal organs were also prepared and examined for any internal parasites. Parasite identification followed Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya et al. (13), Shul'man (14) and Gussev (15). The index catalogue of parasites and disease agents of fishes of Iraq (4) was followed to indicate the number of host records for each parasite species in order to minimize the number of references for each parasite species. Coad's (12) list was followed for the scientific names of the captured fishes. Results and Discussion During the present investigation, a total of 109 fish specimens were collected. These included 12 Barbus grypus Heckel, 30 B. luteus (Heckel), four B. xanthopterus (Heckel), 24 Cyprinus carpio L., five Cyprinion macrostomum Heckel and 34 Liza abu (Heckel). The parasitological inspection of these fishes revealed their infection with nine species of parasites. These parasites included two species of sporozoans (Myxobolus mülleri and Dermocystidium percae), three ciliates (Trichodina cottidarum, T. elegini and T. murmanica) and four monogenetic trematodes (Dactylogyrus rhodeianus, D. vastator, Paradiplozoon cyprini and Microcotyle donavini). The following is a brief account on the occurrence of these parasites together with a detailed description and measurement of the two newly recorded trichodinid species in Iraq. Myxobolus mülleri Bütschli, 1882: Spores of this sporozoan were detected in the present study from gills and liver of B. grypus with an incidence of 25%. This parasite was reported for the first time in Iraq from B. xanthopterus by Herzog (16) who gave no incidence of infection. Three other hosts were IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 reported, later, for this parasite in Iraq: B. luteus and L. abu by Al-Nasiri (17) from a man-made lake, Baghdad with an incidence of 7.5% and 0.3%, respectively and from C. carpio by Al-Zubaidy (18) from a fish farm in Babylon province with an incidence of 1%. So, B. grypus of the present study represents the fifth host for M. mülleri in Iraq and its first record from fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. According to Mhaisen (4), a total of 29 species of Myxobolus are, so far, known from freshwater fishes of Iraq. Dermocystidium percae Reichenbach-Klinke, 1950: Cysts of this parasite were detected in the present study from skin and gills of B. grypus with an incidence of 16.7%. The cysts were elongated, whitish in color and containing many rounded spores. This parasite was reported for the first time in Iraq from the gills and skin of common carp (C. carpio) fingerlings in Al-Zaafaraniya fish farm, south of Baghdad with an incidence of 5.5% (19, 20). No further account on the occurrence of this parasite is available in Iraq (4). So, B. grypus of the present investigation represents the second host for D. percae in Iraq and its first record in fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. D. percae is the only species of Dermocystidium so far recorded in Iraq (4). Trichodina cottidarum forma cyclopteri Polyanskii, 1955: This ciliate was recorded in the present study from skin of C. carpio with an incidence of 4.2%. The first report on this parasite from Iraq was from the gills of C. carpio from a man-made lake in Al-Zawraa park, Baghdad by Abdul-Ameer (21) with an incidence of 61.8%. Later, it was reported only from two other hosts: Hypophthalmichthys molitrix from a fish farm in Babylon province (22) and from L. abu from Hilla river (23). The present study represents the first record of this species in fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. Trichodina elegini Shul'man-Albova, 1950 (Fig. 1 A): This ciliated protozoan was detected in the present study from the skin of L. abu with an incidence of 2.9%. This is the first record of T. elegini from fishes of Iraq as no previous account is available (4). Therefore, a brief account on its description and measurements are given here, based on five specimens. Urceolariidae: Diameter of body 40-82 µm, attaching disk 27-73 µm, corona 23-45 µm. External processes (4.3-7 µm) in form of slightly curved lobes with rounded tips. Internal processes (3-7 µm) thin, rod like and slightly curved. Internal processes attach some distance from edge of internal side of central part of tooth. 4-5 pairs of attaching disc striations are lying between each two adjacent external processes. Number of teeth in corona is 22-35. The description and measurements of T. elegini of the present study are agreeable with those reported by Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya et al. (13) and Shul'man (14). Trichodina murmanica Polyanski, 1955 (Fig. 1 B): IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 This ciliated protozoan was detected in the present study from the skin of L. abu with an incidence of 5.9%. This is the first record of T. murmanica from fishes of Iraq as no previous account is available from Iraq (4). Therefore, a brief description and measurements which are is given here are based on five specimens. Urceolariidae: Diameter of body 37-86 µm, attaching disk 27-60 µm, corona 22-50 µm. External processes (4-7 µm) in form of broad lobes with rounded tips, slightly curved. Internal processes (3-7 µm) spinelike, broader basally and usually straight. Internal processes attach some distance from edge of internal side of central part of tooth. 4-5 pairs of attaching disc striations are lying between each two adjacent external processes. Number of teeth in corona is 25-33. The description and measurements of T. murmanica of the present study are agreeable with those reported by Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya et al. (13) and Shul'man (14). It is easy to distinguish the three trichodinids of the present study from each others according to the external and internal processes of their teeth. The external processes are falcate in T. cottidarum and slightly curved in both T. elegini and T. murmanica. The last two species differ according to their internal processes which are rodlike in T. elegini and spinelike in T. murmanica. According to Mhaisen (4), a total of 12 species of Trichodina were, so far, recorded from fishes of Iraq. These are: T. acuta, T. borealis, T. cottidarum, T. domerguei, T. gracilis, T. heterodentata, T. mutabilis, T. nigra, T. nobilis, T. pediculus, T. prowazeki and T. reticulata. The results of the present investigation bring the total number of Trichodina species in Iraq to 14 species. Dactylogyrus rhodeianus Jalali, Papp et Molnár, 1955: This parasite was recorded in the present study from gills of B. luteus with an incidence of 10%. This parasite was reported for the first time in Iraq from gills of both B. luteus and B. sharpeyi from Al-Husainia creek, Karbala province (24, 25) with an incidence of 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively. No more reports are available on the occurrence of D. rhodeianus in Iraq (4). So, the present account represents a second report of D. rhodeianus in B. luteus and represents the first occurrence of D. rhodeianus from fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. Dactylogyrus vastator Nybelin, 1924: This parasite was recorded in the present study from the gills of C. carpio with an incidence of 20.8%. This parasite was reported for the first time in Iraq by Ali et al. (26) from gills and skin of C. macrostomum from Tigris river at Baghdad with an incidence of 2.1%. According to Mhaisen (4), the host list of this parasite in Iraq now includes 29 species inclusive of C. carpio. The present investigation represents the second occurrence of D. IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 vastator in Salah Al-Deen province as it was firstly reported from this province by Al- Jawda et al. (6) from both B. barbulus and B. xanthopterus. According to Mhaisen (4), a total of 59 Dactylogyrus species were, so far, recorded from fishes of Iraq. Paradiplozoon cyprini Khotenovsky, 1982: This parasite was recorded in the present study from the gills of B. grypus with an incidence of 25%. Its first report from fishes of Iraq was by Al-Nasiri and Mhaisen (8) from gills of B. grypus from Salah Al-Deen province with an incidence of 25%. No more data are available on the occurrence of this parasite in Iraq (4), and hence the present study represents its second occurrence from Salah Al-Deen province. According to Mhaisen (4), the genus Paradiplozoon is now represented with seven species which include the present species (P. cyprini) and P. bliccae of Al-Nasiri (7) from Salah Al-Deen province. Microcotyle donavini van Beneden et Hesse, 1863: This parasite was recorded in the present study from the gills of Liza abu with an incidence of 2.9%. Its first report from Iraq was by Ali et al. (27) from gills of L. abu at a fish farm in Babylon province with an incidence of 0.3%. According to Mhaisen (4), the present list of M. donavini in fishes of Iraq includes 10 species. The present study represents the first occurrence of M. donavini in fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. M. donavini is the only species of the genus Microcotyle so far recorded from fishes of Iraq (4). To sum up on the findings of the present study, it is clear that extra seven species of parasites are now added to the parasitic fauna of fishes of Salah Al-Deen province. Intensive surveys are expected to reveal more parasites. In connection with the host-parasite list, it is clear that B. grypus and L. abu of the present study were infected with the highest number of parasite species (three parasite species each), followed by C. carpio (two parasite species) and B. luteus (one parasite species). Both B. xanthopterus and C. macrostomum were negative for any parasitic infections. References 1. Amlacher, E. (1970). Textbook of fish diseases (Engl. Transl.). T. F. H. Publ., Jersey city: 302pp. 2. Mhaisen, F.T. (1983). Diseases and parasites of fishes. Basrah Univ. Press: 227pp. (In Arabic). 3. Shul'man, S.S. (1961). Specificity of fish parasites. 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Fischereiwiss., 20(2/3): 132-147. 17. Al-Nasiri, F.S. (2000). Parasitic infections of fishes in a man-made lake at Al- Amiriya region, Baghdad. M. Sc. Thesis, Coll. Educ. (Ibn Al-Haitham), Univ. Baghdad: 133pp. (In Arabic). 18. Al-Zubaidy, A.B. (1998). Studies on the parasitic fauna of carps in Al-Furat fish farm, Babylon province, Iraq. Ph. D. Thesis, Coll. Sci., Univ. Babylon: 141pp. (In Arabic). 19. Sadek, A.A. (1999). Ectoparasites of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) fingerlings intensively stocked during autumn and winter. M. Sc. Thesis, Coll. Educ. (Ibn Al-Haitham), Univ. Baghdad: 100pp. (In Arabic). 20. Sadek, A.A.; Mhaisen, F.T. and Balasem, A.N. (2006). Ibn Al-Haitham J. Pure Appl. Sci., 19(4A): 32-40. 21. Abdul-Ameer, K.N. (2004). Ibn Al-Haitham J. Pure Appl. Sci., 17(3): 1-6. IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. SCI VOL.22 (2) 2009 22. Hussain, H.T. (2005). Ectoparasitic infection of the common carp and silver carp fingerlings stocked under winter in Al-Shark Al-Awsat fish farm, Babylon province. M. Tech. Thesis, Al-Musayab Technic. Coll., Found. Technic. Educ.: 106pp. (In Arabic). 23. Hussain, H.T. (2007). J. Babylon Univ., Pure Appli. Sci., 14(3): 228-232. 24. Al-Saadi, A.A.J.J. (2007). Ecology and taxonomy of parasites of some fishes and biology of Liza abu from Al-Husainia creek in Karbala province, Iraq. Ph. D. Thesis, Coll. Educ. (Ibn Al-Haitham), Univ. Baghdad: 155pp. (In Arabic). 25. Al-Saadi, A.A.J.; Mhaisen, F.T. and Hasan, H.R. (2009). Iraqi J. Agric. (Spec. Issue), 14(2): In Press. 26. Ali, N.M.; Salih, N.E. and Abdul-Ameer, K.N. (1987). J. Biol. Sci. Res., 18 (2): 19-27. 27. Ali, N.M.; Mhaisen, F.T.; Abul-Eis, E.S. and Kadim, L.S. (1989). Proc. 5 th Sci. Conf., Sci. Res. Counc., 5(2): 225-233. Fig. (1): Two newly recorded Trichodina spp. from fishes of Iraq. A: T. elegini, B: T. murmanica. A B 0 .0 2 m m 0 .0 2 m m 2002( 2) 22مجلة ابن الهيثم للعلوم الصرفة والتطبيقية المجلد طفيليات أسماك مجموعة من نهر دجلة، محافظة صالح الدين، العراق فاطمة شهاب الناصري وفرحان ضمد محيسن قسم علوم الحياة، كلية العلوم، جامعة تكريت، تكريت، العراق كلية طب األسنان، جامعة بغداد، بغداد، العراقفرع العلوم األساسية، الخالصة من ألسمنماا ألاعاةنلس امننو عنناألش وألا نلامر ألاامنطار ألالمنا ر ألالنينن للينط اتعين 901 تجمع عثننناا ألامننلس منن نن عنيننالا األان ننن منن نةننط لج ننو ألامنناط علننط ماا ننو نن ألاننلي إلألافن،ر ألالنناط أل . لانننت هناأل ألسمننماا م نالو لنمننعو عنناألش منن 8001ايننو نةط لننانا ألاثنان غألان ا 8002 نةط عي ننا Dermocystidiumا Myxobolus mülleriألامفي يننات ألاعاةننلس اننناعي منن ألالاغيننات ألااياألنيننو و T. murmanicaا T. elegini ر Trichodina cottidarumث ثنو عنناألش من ألاةلليننننننننننننننننننننات ور ر D. vastatorر Dactylogyrus rhodeianusاعطلعنو عنناألش من ألامنطتمنات عاالينو ألامن ن و Paradiplozoon cyprini اMicrocotyle donaviniمن ا ناع . م لي هاأل ألامفي ياتر مج سا منننطس ننن ألاعنننطأل . لمنننا نننن، عنننلت T. murmanicaا T.eleginiو Trichodinaهنننلليات ألاجنننن . لإمننثناا ألامننطت، M. mülleriألالناغ ر D. percaeألا لام مضيفا" جليلأل" ألاعطأل ال م ألالاغ D. vastator ،األامننطتP. cyprini ن جمينا ألامفي ينات ألامنلعو ألالاتينو نمنج سا منطس من ألسمنماا فاا نو م نالو ماا و ألالي . لانت ل م عمماا ألا لام األان ن وم لني ألسمنماا ألام عنينننالا وم نننالو إلن نةنننا عمنننماا ألالننناط ألر لننن للط عنننلل مننن ألسنننناألش ألامفي ينننو و ث ثنننو عنننناألش الننن منةمنننا ث، عمماا ألاامطا وم الو لناش األال . رلناعي م ألامفي يات