ISSN: 2639-216X
Authors: Hailu M and Mitiku MA*
The increasing interest of fish culture development in recent world has increased the interest on awareness and experience on fish parasites. Fishes in freshwater are affected by different types of parasites in different ways and causes various problems depending on the interaction between the parasite species, the host species and environmental conditions. The major parasitic groups found in the freshwater fishes include trematodes, nematodes, acanthocephalans and cestodes. Based on the existence of suitable biotic and abiotic factors parasites can envied fishes and alter their host fish’s health through mechanical, physical and reproductive damage. These changes can affect growth rate, fecundity and survival, change behavior and sexual characteristics and result in many other maladaptive alterations of the infected host. These changes could have significant consequences at not only the individual level, but population, community and ecosystem levels as a whole. In most cases parasitic infection of fishes occur due to environmental problems such as poor water quality, crowding, dietary deficiencies or stress particularly in the developing countries aquatic habitats. As a result the best cure for any fish health problem could be prevention or good water quality management rather than medication after infection has already occurred.
Keywords: Fish Parasites; Prevention; Occurrence
