Parasitic diseases

Overview
 Disease is considered as a primary constraint to the
culture of many aquatic species, impeding both
economic and social development in many countries.
 A number of diseases like epizootic ulcerative syndrome,
skin erosion, gill damage, tail and fin rot are common in
farmed fishes.
 In pond aquaculture system, high stocking density and
irregularly feed supply is very prone to disease outbreak.
 Most pond fish farmers do not have a good
understanding of health and disease issues in their
system.
 Many diseases of fish are secondary to environmental
insult, and can be prevented through proper
management.
 What is Disease?
 Disease is a process that is characterized by ‘‘any
impairment that interferes with or modifies the
performance of normal functions.

 The causes of diseases can be grouped into those

associated with environmental, nutritional, and genetic
factors of the host or infectious agents (e.g., microbial
pathogens).

 Diseases may be major controlling factors in the

abundance of both cultured and wild fish and,
therefore, should be an integral part of any
assessment of these populations.
Cont.
 Diseases can directly influence performance,
susceptibility to predation, success of reproduction,
and other critical factors required for survival and
propagation of a species.

 These effects can be cumulative and have catastrophic

consequences for wild fish populations.

 Similarly, diseases among cultured fish can cause death,

poor growth and food conversion, increased production
costs, and interrupted production schedules.
 Diseases in fish populations
 Most diseases do not occur
at random in a fish
population.

 They follow distinct patterns

according to exposure of
individuals in the population
to various factors
associated with the host,
agent and environment.
 How do you recognize that a fish
might be ill?
 Colour may fade out / change.
 Body shape, condition and / or behaviour will be
abnormal.
 The fish may refuse to feed or overfeed and trailing
faeces appear at vent.
 Condition of the fins and gills will deteriorate.
 Fins may be clamped close to body.
 The fish may not keep its swimming position.
 There may be signs of growths or abnormalities injuries.
 Types of Fish Disease
 Fish ailments can be separated into 4 general
types including;
 1. Parasitic or protozoan diseases

 2. Fungal or mycotic diseases

 3. Bacterial diseases

 4. Viral diseases
 1. Parasitic Diseases
 The parasitic diseases in fish can cause severe
morbidity and mortality.
 The important protozoa parasites which cause
diseases include Ichthyophthirius multifiliis,
Oodinium sp., Chilofonrlla sp. and Trichodina
sp.
 Trichodina browse over gills and skin, damaging the
host tissue resulting to dead tissues.
 The monogenian trematode parasites (skin
flukes) causing diseases are Gyrodactylus sp.
Cont.
 The Dactylogyrus sp. is known as gill flukes.

 The most important crustacean parasites

causing diseases are Lernae sp. (adult up to 22
mm long, attach to the surface of the skin)

 Argulus sp. (the freshwater louse, large, flat, up

to 1 cm long, mostly found on head of the fish or
behind the fins).
 Common parasitic diseases
 Ich white spot
 Marine velvet, velvet disease, or amyloodiniosis
 Argulus
 Ergasilus
 Anchor worm
 Leeches
 Flukes
 Nematoda
 1. White spot disease (Ich)
 Caused by Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.
 The disease is characterized by presence of white spots
all over the external body surface (skin, fins, gills).

 It is one of the most prevalent disease affecting mostly

cultured and aquarium fishes.

 Ichthyophthiriasis comes in front of all parasitic

diseases, as it is widespread in all types of intensive
culture.

 Also, outbreaks of this disease lead to mass mortality

and reduce the growth rate of fish.
Life cycle of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis
 Outbreak of disease
Stress factor includes:
1. Overcrowding of fish.
2. Low dissolved oxygen.
3. Chemical pollutants in the water.
4. High temperature, and spawning activities( 15-25˚C
outbreak occur).
 Mode of transmission
 The disease is transmitted through direct and
indirect contact with infected fish.

 Water act as vehicle for spreading the infection.

 The disease is easily introduced to fish culture

by adding new infected fish or contaminated
aquatic plants.
 External pathology
 The disease is characterized by appearance of white spots on the
skin, gills, fins and cornea of the eye.
 However I. multifiliis only infects the gills, with no obvious gross
lesions on the body surface.
 Ulcers develop in the skin of heavily infected fishes and are often
give rise to the sites of secondary bacterial or fungal infections.
 Infected fishes swim more rapidly and rub themselves against
objects.
 They become lethargic and eventually cease feeding.
 In more severe cases the skin may be covered with slimy grey
patches and also skin detachments occur.
 When the gills become infected, they appeared pale in color and
swollen, respiration become difficult and the fish aggregate at the
water inlet and die.
 Internal pathology
 Skin penetration by theronts in the epidermis
causes ulcers.

 These multiply not only in areas around the

parasite, but throughout the epidermis.

 Sometimes when trophonts and mature it break

the epithelium and comes out to the water.

 Fish may die due severe epithelial destruction

hence osmoregulatory failure.
 Aetiology
 Disease caused by Ichthyophthirius multifiliis in most
freshwater fishes.
 Ich is a ciliate up to 1 mm in diameter, possesses a
large, horse shoe shaped macronucleus and at least one
small, round micronucleus.
 It is round to oval in shape.
 The full grown parasitic form grows to 0.5 to 1.5 mm,
which is quite large for unicellular organisms.
 During the parasitic the micronucleus, which is
responsible for the generative process.
 Ich is typically a warm water disease and a common
temperature for ich outbreaks is 15 – 25˚C.
 Parasites complete their life cycle in 3–6 days at 25˚C.
 Taxonomy
 Kingdom: Protozoa
 Phylum: Ciliophora
 Class: Oligohymenophorea
 Subclass: Hymenostomatida
 Order: Hymenostomatida
 Suborder: Ophryoglenina
 Family: Holotrichia
 Genus: Ichthyophthirius
 Species: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis
 Life cycle
 Direct life cycle of I. multifiliis is comprised of:

 a) infective theront

 b) obligate fish associated trophont

 c) water borne reproductive tomont

 Geographical distribution
 Ich is a cosmopolitan parasite of fishes.
 There is evidence that it originated in Asia as a parasite
of carp.
 Higher incidence of Ich in salmonid fishes from South
African rivers in areas where intensive aquaculture
occurred.
 In Egypt disease was recorded in numerous fish species
such as tilapia, carp and ornamental gold fish.
 The parasite has a wide geographical distribution and
has been found in European part of Soviet Union,
Central Asia, Siberia and USA.
 Host range
 Ich appears to parasitize all freshwater fishes.

 Higher incidence of Ich in salmonid fishes from South

African rivers in areas where intensive aquaculture
occurred.

 The majority of infected fishes were gizzard shad

(Dorosoma cepedianum) and threadfin shad (Dorosoma
petenense)

 However it affects to all the pond cultured as well as the

aquarium fishes.
 Control
 The objective for the treatment of a disease is to break
the cycle of infection.
 In I. multifiliis infection, the most vulnerable stage is the
free-swimming theront.
 The simplest treatment is reduction or removal of
theronts.
 The repeated transfer of fishes to different aquaria is
effective.
 Daily transfer for 5–7 days is usually sufficient to break
the cycle of parasite.
 Exposing the water to ultraviolet light can control Ich
infections.
 Theronts are killed at temperatures higher than 30˚C.
 Treatment
 1. Fishes in aquaria are treated with 25 ppm (1 ml formalin
to 10 gallons of water) of formalin on alternate days until
the infection is cleared.
 2. Bath treatments are also used; fishes are treated with
160–250 ppm formalin for 1 h daily until mortality stops.
 3. Malachite green has also been used, either alone or in
combination with formalin. The zinc-free oxalate salt of
malachite green is the only form of the chemical that is
effective against Ichthyophthirius.
 4. Acriflavin, in a neutral state or Acriflavin hydrochloride
is used as a long bath at 10 ppm for 3 to 20 days.
 Cont.
 5. Acetic acid, it is used as a bath (1%) solution in five
minutes for aquarium fishes.

 6. Sodium chloride, it has a dual purpose as its use kills

the free swimming tomonts and theronts.

 7. Potassium permanganate, it must be used in freshly

prepared solutions.

 8. Methylene blue, it is recommended at 23 ppm as a

permanent bath in aquaria at a temperature between 21˚C
and 26˚C daily.
 Prophylactic measures
Control of I. multifiliis outbreaks requires:
Good animal husbandry and management in addition to
the use of therapeutic agents.
Dead fishes should be removed as soon as they are
found because trophonts begin to drop off and encyst
within hours.
Aquaria, ponds and should be drained, and in race ways
water should be continuously exchanged and and allowed
to dry after an outbreak. Drying kills the parasite. The
bottom of a dried pond should be treated with lime.
If ponds cannot be drained completely, the residual water
should be treated with a disinfectant such as calcium
hypochlorite.
 2. Marine velvet
 Caused by Amyloodinium ocellatum.
 The disease is also known as velvet disease or
amyloodiniosis.
 Is one of the most important pathogenic parasites
affecting the culture of marine and brackish water fish.
 The parasite produces a powdery or velvety appearance
on infected fish, and the resulting disease is commonly
referred to as velvet disease.
 The organism is a dinoflagellate ectoparasite and has
been reported in a wide range of marine and estuarine
fish.
 Can be found on gills and skin (body and fins) of host
fish.
 Mode of transmission
 Through direct contact with live dinospores.
 Thus, the infection can be spread via water
contaminated with live dinospores, including
aero-solized droplets.
 Dinospores range in size from 12 to 15 μm in
diameter.
 It is also likely that the parasite may be
transmitted by fomites (nets, hands, shoes,
equipment, etc.) that have contacted
contaminated water.
 Pathology
 Behavioral signs may include a decrease in or
complete lack of feeding activity, flashing
(rubbing against objects in the tank or on the
bottom substrate) and coughing (backflushing
water across the gills).

 The skin of heavily infected fish may have a dull

gold or brown sheen
 .
 Closer examination of the skin may reveal scale
loss and patchy accumulation of mucus.
Amyloodinium trophonts on gill tissue of red drum
(Sciaenops ocellatus), 100 x.
 Aetiology
 Both Amyloodinium and Piscinoodinium are
dinoflagellates in the family Blastodiniphyceae.

 Most dinoflagellates are free-living, often photosynthetic,

and serve as an important food source for planktivorous
organisms.

 Of these two genera, only Amyloodinium causes disease

in marine fish.
 Taxonomy
 Kingdom: Protozoa
 Phylum: Dinoflagellata
 Class: Dinophyceae
 Order: Thoracosphaerales
 Family: Oodiniaceae
 Genus: Amyloodinium
 Species: Amyloodinium ocellatum
 Life cycle
 Direct life cycle of Amyloodinium ocellatum is
comprised of:
 The parasite has three developmental stages
(Fig. 1) that are superficially similar to those of
the important marine parasite Cryptocaryon
irritans, the cause of marine white spot disease.
 The three life stages are the:
 1. trophont (the adult stage that feeds on the fish)
 2. tomont (detached from the fish, this stage divides to
form dinospores)
 3. dinospores (the free-swimming stage that searches
for and infects a host).
 Geographical distribution
 This parasite has a broad host and geographic range,
causing fish mortalities in tropical and temperate
environments.
 Epizootics have been reported in feral and cultured fish,
as well as in home and public aquaria.
 Rapid spread of the parasite and high mortality are
common in cultured fish if the organism is not recognized
and treated early in the course of an outbreak.
 A morphologically similar parasite, Piscinoodinium,
infects freshwater fish but is much less common and less
patho-genic than A. oscellatum.
 Treatment
 In marine recirculating systems, which do not contain
invertebrates, copper is added to the system gradually over
a period of several days until the free copper ion (Cu2+) is
at a concentration of 0.2 mg/l.
 this level is then maintained for up to 3 weeks.

 Chloroquine, has been used with some success for the

control of Amyloodinium.
 Prophylactic measures
Control of A. ocellatum outbreaks requires:
Fish should be examined when they enter quarantine and
periodically while in quarantine.
Examination should include collecting biopsy specimens
from gills, skin and fins.
Sea water brought in with new fish should NEVER be
introduced into holding aquaria or exhibits.
Prophylactic freshwater dips for up to 5 minutes have
been used to remove trophont stages for euryhaline (and
potentially marine) species that can tolerate fresh water
longer than A. ocellatum.
 3. FISH LOUSE (Argulus)
 Fish louse is a flattened creature about as large
as a water flea belonging to the branchiura or gill
tails, a group of the crustacea.
 Eight legs- for swimming
 Two large suckers for attaching to the skin of its
host.
 The colour of the fish louse ranges from light
green to greenish yellow and brown.
 If parasites is well fed its colour will be darker
due to filling with the blood of the host.
Cont.
 The most common members of the Branchiura
belong to the genus Argulus.
 The Argulus species (Family: Argulidae), more
commonly known as fish lice and are common
parasites of freshwater fishes.
 These parasites have a direct life cycle using the
fish as hosts.
 The general body-form of Argulus is a
dorsoventrally flattened and covered by a large
chitinous carapace.
 Taxonomy
 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Arthropoda
 Subphylum: Crustacea
 Class: Maxillopoda
 Subclass: Branchiura
 Order: Arguloida
 Family: Argulidae
 Genus: Argulus
 Species: Argulus foliaceus, Argulus coregoni,
 Argulus japonicus.
 Pathology
 Infecting the skin or mouth of fish induce severe local
damage to the integument.
 Damage is caused by the piercing proboscis stylet which
enters deep into the skin's dermal layer and secretes
lytic and toxic substances resulting in acute
haemorrhagic, inflamed wounds.
 Attachment to and crawling on the skin also causes
irritation and abrasions leading first to proliferation and
later to erosion of the epithelium.
 Persistent irritation caused in heavy infections may affect
fish appetite.
 Individual adult and
late stage juvenile.

 Argulus are easily

seen with the unaided
eye
 Treatment and control
 use of common chemical such as salt (NaCl) and other
common chemicals used in experimentation include
formaldehyde, potassium permanganate (2-5 mg/l bath)
and formalin.
 Themost effective treatment against argulosis is
organophosphates.
 Organophosphates usually 2-3 doses at one week
intervals, are needed to treat the emerging larvae and
juveniles.
 Emamectin benzoate have been used to eradicate
Argulus.
 4. Ergasilidae (copepoda)
 It is crustacean parasite in fish which affect many fishes
of freshwater and euryhaline fish of many families.

 In Ergasilidae only the female is parasitic, and is found

on the gills of fish.

 Ergasilids attached to gill filaments produce small foci of

erosion; apparently feeding involves excretion of
proteolytic enzymes for external digestion.

 Several species occur in cichlids, in siluriforms and also

in brackish waters.
 5. Anchor Worm (Lernaea)
Cause
The crustacean parasite Lernaea.
It can grow up to 12mm.
Usually brought in by non quarantined
fish.
Larval stages, copepodites and
copepod-shaped males are attached to
the gills.
Symptoms
Whitish-green threads hang out of the
fish’s skin, with an inflamed area or ulcer
at the point of their attachment.
Cont.
 Infect gills and any site on the fish integument.

 Heavy infection of gills by copepodites of L. barnimiana

or L. cyprinacea causes damage to the tissue which is
in immediate contact with the parasite and stimulates
extensive hyperplasia of the entire gill epithelium.

 The attachment of the adult females to the integument

stimulates an intense inflammatory response.
 Treatment
 The adult parasite can be removed manually and the
wound treated with antiseptic to prevent bacterial
infection or by using forceps.

 1% of common salt eliminates larvae in 3 days.

 250 ppm formalin for 30 to 60 minutes.

 Other chemicals such as organophosphate and

organ halogeninsecticides, dip in potassium
permanganate (KMnO4), kills attached female
Lernaeaids.
 6. Parasitic isopoda
 Isopoda are parasites of marine fish and infections have been
reported in euryhaline fish in estuaries.
 Nerocila orbignyi, a common parasite of marine and
estuarine fish, including grey mullets.
 A few species of cymothoid isopods (Lironeca spp.) occur in
freshwater fish (apparently as marine relics).
 Opportunistic Euryhaline cymothoids of several families and
genera infect farmed fish in Southeast Asia, including cultured
tilapia.
 Isopoda are the largest crustaceans found on fish (20–50 mm
long).
Cont.
 The ‘cymothoid’ isopods attach to fish early in life and
pass through a male stage before becoming female.

 Both males and females remain permanently attached to

the fish.

 Egg and larval development takes place in a special

brood-pouch on the females ventrum.
 7. Fish leeches
 This is a worm like creature
with membered body which
has a large sucking disc at
each end.
 Found in garden ponds.
 Fish leech (Pisciola
geometra) grows to about
20-30 mm.
 Feed on the blood of their
victim .
 SYMPTOMS

 Pale brown or brown/white

striped in colour.
 Stop feeding
 Lethargic
 Sit on the bottom with their
fins clamped.
 Skin may have a milky
appearance due to an
increase in mucus
secretion.
 TREAMENT
 Best treatment is to place the fish in a 2% salt
solution at first become restless ,but this will do
no harm.
 Remove by use of forceps.

 Move the fish from to an quarantine tank .salt

may be added to aid recovery and reduce the
rise of secondary infections.
 Leave the pond empty of fish for about a month
to break life cycle.
 8. Gill flukes and skin flukes (Dactylogyrus&
Gyrodactylus)
Cause
Trematode (flatworm / flukes) parasites, caught
by direct contact with contaminated fish, free
swimming larval stages can attach to the bottom
and side of housing.

Flukes attach themselves to the body and eat

skin / gill tissue and blood.
 Symptoms
 The gills may move rapidly and fish may gasp at
the water surface.
 The fish may scrape itself against objects.
 Colours fade as damaged areas are covered in
mucus.
 The skin may redden in places.
 The fins may become ragged.
 Lethargic
 Stop feeding
 TREAMENT
 These parasites can be treated with a formalin
based medicine.

 Potassium permangante

 Use salt bath for individual fish.

 9. The Asian tapeworm Bothriocephalus acheilognathii

 Known world-wide from fish of the families fishes.

 The life history of B. acheilognathii involves a definitive

host, a fish and an intermediate host, a copepod.

 The Asian tape worm seems to be a thermophilic

species.
 Low temperatures seem to delay or even interrupt development
and consequently completion of the life cycle.
 At 28–30˚C , 77% of the eggs hatched in the first day after
release, the remainder during the following five days.
 At 14–15˚C , the incubation period extended to 10–28 days and
was for all practical purposes interrupted below 12˚C .
Cont.

 Heavily infected fish have a distended abdomen.

 Sometimes infected fish also develop a variable degree
of aseptic dropsy.
 Tapeworm-infected carp suffered from high mortalities.
 High mortality among heavily infected juvenile carp
(90%).
 Pathological changes in infected fish may include
pressure lesions, inflammation of the intestine and
severe haemorrhagic enteritis at the parasite attachment
point.
 Several chemotherapeutic formulations, when applied in
food, effectively relieved fish from infection.
 Treatment
 Drugs should be mixed in oil (corn, soy, fish) and
sprayed on to pellets or mixed with feeds at a rate of one
litre per 70kg dry weight.
 END

Thanks for your attention