POPULATION DYNAMICS OF CRUSTACEAN PARASITES OF FRESH WATER FISHES AT BAHRAICH, U.P

An investigation was made on the population dynamics of crustacean ectoparasites of some freshwater carps and catfishes during October, 2019 to September, 2020. Out of 303 examined fishes 37 fishes were found infected with total 81 crustacean ectoparasites. The incidence, intensity and abundance of crustacean parasites were high in carps than the catfishes. The result also revealed that exotic carps were more susceptible to crustacean parasites than indigenous carps. Four genera of crustacean parasites were identified as copepods (Ergasilus, Lernea and Lamproglena) and Branchiura (Argulus) from gills, skin and fins of infected fishes during study period