ABSTRACT
Fish, like all other species, can be impacted by a variety of environmental conditions, including parasitic infections. Although there are several parasitological researche on ectoparasitic monogeneans, few are published on those that infect sparid fish. Forty samples of Acanthopagrus bifasciatus were collected during this study from coastal regions along the Arabian Gulf (Saudi Arabia). Gills from all fish were isolated and examined to identify monogeneans. The parasites were studied morphologically using light microscopy. Overall prevalence and mean intensity were 20% and 9, respectively. Eight out of 40 (20%) fish samples were found to be naturally infected with a monogenetic species, namely, Bivagina pagrosomi (Murray, 1931) Dillon and Hargis, 1965 belonging to Microcotylidae (order Mazocraeidea). This parasite is characterized by the presence of haptor provided 43-47 clamps of microcotylid-type that deeply penetrated the gill lamellae and caused severe pathological impacts including hyperplasia, telangiectasis, and deformity of the respiratory epithelial cells Our finding indicates that this is the first report of A. bifasciatus being infected with B. pagrosomi from Saudi marine waters as well as the research of its deleterious effects on its host gills. More research is needed to confirm the parasite species’ taxonomic status at the molecular level.
Keywords:
marine fish; microcotylidae; morphology; morphometry; histopathology
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