Full-text Available Online at www.bioline.org.br/ja Prevalence of Gills Helminth of Clarias Gariepinus in Baga Side of Lake Chad

ABSTRACT: The prevalence of helminth infection in the gill and stomach of Clarias gariepinus in Baga site of lake Chad was investigated by this study. Ninety samples of Clarias gariepinus were collected from Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria between March and August of 2007 and examined for helminth parasites. The mean weight of Clarias gariepinus ranged between 0.3 and 1.7kg, standard length between 1.5-55cm, while the total and head lengths were 58cm and 13cm for big fish; and 17 and 3cm for small fish respectively. Examination of Clarias gariepinus for helminthes found the gills and stomach to be most infested with Heterophytes species of Trematodes and Cestodes with a prevalence of 8 (44.4%) and 10 (55.6%) (p> 0.05) respectively. Male Clarias had a higher 12 (28.6%) parasites prevalence than females 6 (12.5%) (p<0.05).Examination conducted also revealed that the month of May showed the highest prevalence of infection with 7 (38.9%) for the gills 4 (57.1%) and the stomach 7 (38.9%) compared with the other months of the study. The study reveals that bigger fish have higher parasitic burden than smaller fish and parasite infection is higher during the dry hot season of the year. @ JASEM Fish is a highly nutritious food and large production of it at cheaper price could also benefit the health of many of our people. Fish play a