Abstract

This study investigated the infections of nematodes in fish. A total of 244 fish specimens were examined in four stations (Halil, Shur, Konarooieh and Jafar Abad) of Kerman province southeastern Iran from June 2009 to June 2010. The fish under investigation were: Capoeta damascina (109 specimens), Cyprinion watsoni (79 specimens), Schistura sargadensis (34 specimens) and Channa gachua (22 specimens). The detected parasites were Rhabdochona macrostoma, Rhabdochona denudata, Contracaecum micropapillatum and Hepaticola petruschewkii. Of these C. damascina, C. watsoni, S. sargadensis and C. gachua were introduced as new hosts for these nematodes. The parasites R. macrostoma and C. micropapillatum were the first to be recorded for these nematodes in Iran. The overall prevalence and the mean intensity of infections were 69.67 and 11.17%, respectively. Nematode parasites are frequent in freshwater fish of different regions in Iran and must be taken into consideration for aquaculture.

Key words: Parasites, Kerman Province, rhabdochonidae, anisakidae, capillaridae, cyprinidae, chanidae.