Copepoda parasites in economically important fish, Mugilidae (Mugil cephalus and Liza falcipinnis from Lac Nokoue Lagoon in Republic of Benin, West Africa

Fish parasitology is an indispensable tool in aquatic health studies and a basic understanding of richness of a community parasitism in many localities is essential for instituting control. Many copepod parasites are ecto-parasites which negatively affect the appearance and reduced production of species of economically important fish, both from the wild and fish farms, thus making them difficult to market. In this study, copepod parasitic investigation was carried out in gills of 856 fish mugilidae (Mugil cephalus and Liza falcipinnis) in three stations (Ganvie, Djdje and Zogbo) of Lac Nokoue lagoon. In the three stations, three species of parasitic copepod were found: Nipergasilus bora, Ergasilus latus and Ergasilus lizae. The highest total percentage copepod prevalence was found in Ganvie (86.23%) and the least in Djdje (63.14%). There is significant difference (P<0.05) in the rate of infestation of L. falcipinnis at Djdje than the other two stations, where as M. cephalus shows no significant difference in the rate of infestation in the three stations. The research reveals higher number of parasite copepods during the rainy season.Key words: Copepod parasites, Mugilidae fish, Lac Nokoue Lagoon