African Journal of Biotechnology

A study was undertaken to assess the prevalence, mean intensity, abundance and seasonality of parasites of fish in a natural, freshwater, tropical lake, southeast Nigeria. A total of 1191 fish specimen belonging to four families (Cichlidae, Bagridae, Hepsetidae and Channidae), seven genera and nine species were collected from the lake and examined for parasites. Eleven (11) species of parasites comprising metacercariae of three digenetic trematodes, one cestode, five nematodes and two acanthocephalans were isolated. Clinostomoides sp. showed the highest range of sites of infection, and the operculum carried significantly more worm burden (F = 196.843, d.f. = 5, p = 0.000) than other sites infected by this…