First Record of Co – infection of Three Clinostomatid Parasites in Cichlids (Osteichthyes: Cichlidae) in a Tropical Freshwater Lake

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of first record of co-infection of three Clinostomum sp.; Clinostomum Complanatum (Rudolphi, 1819), C. tilapiae (Ukoli, 1966), and Euclinostomum hetereostomum (1809) in Tilapia zilii. There was differential parasitic effects resulting in selection for relatively better adaptiveness to host's microhabitats, more population size, and frequent host location of these parasites during the one year survey (Nov 2007- Oct 2008) in Opi Lake, Nigeria.  Prevalence of 9.4 % was recorded in C. complanatum, 10.4 % in E. heterostomum and 4.8% in C. tilapiae. The parasites were recovered from three major microhabitats of buccal cavity, skin and eye.