Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2014) 2(1): 9-13 E-ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956 Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com © 2014 Iranian Society of Ichthyology Original Article Incidence of Lernaea (Crustacea: Copepoda) parasitic in the Mashkid River Basin, Southeast of Iran Mohammad Hashem Malekzehi1, Hamid Reza Esmaeili2, Halimeh Zareian*2,1Zahra Farahani2, Abdolrahim Pazira1 1Departement of Fisheries, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran. 2Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71454. Iran. Article history: Received 27 June 2013 Accepted 28 January 2014 Available online 2 5 February 2014 Keywords: Copepod Mashkid River basin Native fishes Abstract: In the present investigation, Lernaea parasite was reported in the examined fish species, collected from the Mashkid River basin, Southeast of Iran in 2012 and 2013. Lernaea parasites were isolated from the external surface of eye, fins, operculum and body of Bangana dero, Cyprinion microphthalmus, Gonorhynchus diplocheilus (Cyprinidae), Aphanius dispar (Cyprinodontidae), Channa gachua (Channidae) in different water bodies. The highest infection was found in native fish, B. dero with nine parasites in single specimen. The exotic fishes were not infected. Introduction Iran is located a region of major zoogeographical interchange having remarkable biodiversity attracting naturalists and scientists (Esmaeili et al., 2010). Based on field work, maps, fish distribution, previous studies (Sadati,1977; Armantrout, 1980; Coad, 2013), and hydrography, 19 major basins have been recognized in Iran (Coad, 2013). The Hamun-e Mashkid (= Mashkel) which lies within Pakistan on the border with Iran is one of these basins. The Mashkid River starts from the east of the mountains draining into the Hamun-e-Jazmurian basin and flows east into Pakistan. Two tributaries of the Mashkid within Iran are the Rutak River and the Simish (= Sunish River) which drain the lowlands between Kuh-e-Birag and the Badamo Range from the northwest to enter the Mashkid River southeast of Saravan (Coad, 2013). This basin has been poorly investigated in terms of fish fauna and parasites. However, with increased attention on parasitism and disease as threats to biodiversity, there is a need to identify the pathogens and parasites, which pose significant risks (Daszak et al., 2000; Smith et al., * Corresponding author: Halimeh Zareian E-mail address: h.zareian@gmail.com 2006) especially the globally distributed parasite Lernaea. Lernaea species, which commonly referred to anchor worms, are common pests in freshwater fishes particularly of cyprinids and amphibians (Piasecki et al., 2004; Kupferberg et al., 2009). Pathogenicity of lernaeids depends largely on the size of their host and attachment site preferences. (Fryer, 1968; Paperna, 1996). Lernaea spp. can cause severe fin damage (Shariff and Roberts, 1989). As a rule, Lernaea has been the cause of great economic losses of fish in many parts of the world (Shariff and Roberts, 1989). Parasite in fishes have been a great concern since they often create disease conditions in fish which will lead to an increase in fishes susceptibility to other disease causing nutritive evaluation of fish as well as fish loss (Raissy et al., 2013). The present study reports the parasitic crustacean Lernaea from freshwater fishes of Mashkid River basin, Iran. Materials and methods Fish specimens were collected during fieldwork in 2002 and 2013 in Mashkid River basin (in Dahak, 10 Malekzehi et al./ Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2014) 2(1): 9-13 Gavarnagan, Roodtak and Mashkid, Saravan city), using electrofishing device and hand net. Identification of fish specimen carried out based on Coad (2013). External surface of all individuals were investigated macro- and microscopically for detecting lernaeid parasites. The worm-like objects of lernaeid parasites were examined under light microscope for diagnosis of the infection. Lernaea parasites were carefully detached from the infected parts of skin, fins, eyes, and musculature tissues. All the collected fish specimens were stored in the Zoological Museum-Collection of Biology Department, Shiraz University (ZM-CBSU). Results Based on fieldwork conducted on the ichthyofauna of the Mashkid river basin in 2012 and 2013, 698 fish specimens were collected belonging to 13 species, Order Family Species Native/Ex otic Cypriniformes Cyprinidae Aspidoparia morar Native Bangana dero Native Carassius auratus Exotic Ctenophryngodon idella Exotic Cyprinion microphthalmum Native Cyprinus carpio Exotic Garra rossica Native Gonorhynchus diplocheilus Native Pseudorasbora parva Exotic Nemacheilidae Paraschistura bampurensis Native Cyprinodontiformes Poecilidae Aphanius dispar Native Cyprinodontodae Gambusia holbrooki Exotic Perciformes Channidae Channa gachua Native Table 1. Fish species collected from Mashkid River basin Species Standard Length (mm) Weight (g) No. of collected specimen No. of infected specimen Occurrence of parasite Eyes Fins Muscles Operculum A. dispar 23-28 0.4-0.6 63 3 * * A. morar 47-60 1.6-2.6 149 6 * * B. dero 58-204 3.88-141.33 6 4 * * * * C. gachua 131 42.67 52 1 * C. microphthalmum 81-109 13.3-35.44 174 7 * G. diplocheilus 32-94 0.62-18.3 95 13 * * Table 2. Infected fishes with Lernaea parasite found in Mashkid River basin of Iran Figure 1. Aphanius dispar infected by Lernea. Figure 2. Gonorhynchus diplocheilus infected by Lernea parasite. 11 Malekzehi et al./ Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2014) 2(1): 9-13 13 genera and five families (Table 1). Lernaeid parasite were separated from six species including Aspidoparia morar, Bangana dero, Cyprinion microphthalmum, Gonorhynchus diplocheilus (Cyprinidae), Aphanius dispar (Cyprinodontidae) and Channa gachua (Channidae) in different water resource. Parasites were detected in different body parts in variant species (Table 2, Figs. 1 and 2). The highest infection was found in B. dero with nine parasites in a single specimen. The other collected species in different localities were Carassius auratus, Ctenopharyngodoni idella, Cyprinus carpio, Garra rossica, Pseudorasbora parva (Cyprinidae), Paraschistura bampurensis (Nemacheilidae) and Gambusia holbrooki (Poecilidae). Discussion Lernaea is a copepod, which is parasitic on many species of freshwater fishes and is extremely common among the cyprinid fishes. The data reported here are concerned with the occurrence of Lernaea parasites in six native species belonging to three orders collected from the Mashkid River basin in Iran. Usually, Lernaea is a common parasite of the cyprinid fishes. However, it has infected other distantly related group, A. dispar (Cyprinodontiformes) and C. gachua (Perciformes) in Mashkid River basin. There are several reports, both historical and recent, of L. cyprinacea using amphibians as hosts in many countries (see Kupferberg, 2009). Although the parasite occurs on other fish species, Bangana dero was the most heavily infected and the parasites were found in eyes, fins, body muscles and operculum of this native cyprinid causing Lernaeasis. The lernaeasis is one of the most dangerous diseases appearing among different native and exotic fish species causing disastrous influence on the economically important fish species (Jazebizadeh, 1983). Here we present the first record of Lernaeid parasite in southeast of Iran and in the Mashkid River (see Pazooki and Masoumian, 2012). At the present study, 34 out of 698 studied fish (≅5%) with different infection rate are infected with lerneaid parasite. Interestingly all of the infected fishes are native species revealing sensitivity of the native fishes to this parasite. The difference in infection rate in studied fish species may be due to differences in biology, nutrition, behavior of fish and environmental conditions. Lernaea sp., the most common copepod parasite in the freshwater aquaculture in Iran, being highly pathogenic to fishes (Barzegar et al., 2008). Lernaea spp. can cause severe fin damage (Shariff and Roberts, 1989). However, pathogenicity of lernaeids largely depends on the size of their host and attachment site preferences (El-Mansy, 2009). As a rule, large numbers of Lernaea can cause serious problems resulted from severe wounds. The infected fishes are not eliminated directly by the parasite, however, it may open routes for secondary infection and finally, related growth retardation, behavioral changes and associated secondary invaders may lead to death of the infected individuals (Robinson and Avenat-Oldewage, 1996). There are different views on the effect of length and weight of the fish on parasitic infection rate. 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