Abstract
Growth profiles of male Cyprinus carpio, 12 uninfected (healthy) and 12 infected with the crustacean Argulus indicus and associated fungus Saprolegnia sp. are presented. The fish were maintained under controlled conditions and provided with ad libitum food for 8 weeks. The instantaneous (G) and relative (h) rates of growth, and production (P) in uninfected carp (0.003 to 0.036 g.d−1, 0.29 to 3.68%, 0.25 to 3.23 g respectively) were much higher than those of infected carp ( − 0.007 to 0.021 g.d −1, 0.71 to 2.17%, 0.59 to 1.76 g). The condition factor (K) for uninfected carp was 4.5 to 4.8 compared to 2.6 to 3.0 for infected carp. During each of the 8 wk the weekly change in weight of infected carp was about 4% less than that of uninfected carp. These data show that Argulus-Saprolegnia infections significantly suppress carp growth and indicate that comparative growth rates can be used as indicators of parasite stress.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bardach, J. E., J. H. Ryther & W. O. McLarney, 1972. Aquaculture, Wiley Interscience.
Carlin, B., 1955. Tagging of salmon smolts in the river Lagan. Rep. Inst. Freshwat. Res. Drottningholm 36: 57–74.
F. A. O., 1986. Fisheries in the food economy. FAO of United Nations. Fisheries Report No. 181.
Grady, K. T. & P. B. Spillett, 1985. A comparison of the pond culture of carp, Cyprinus carpio L., in Britain and mainland Europe. J. Fish. Biol. 26: 701–714.
Hickling, C. F., 1962. Fish Culture. London: Faber and Faber.
Hoffman, G. L., 1962. Parasitic deseases of laboratory fishes and their control. J. Fish. Dis. 3: 348–352.
Huet, M., 1973. Textbook of Fish Culture. Fishing News Book Ltd.
Ricker, W. E., 1979. Growth rates and models, p. 677–743. In W. S. Hoar, D. J. Randall & J. R. Brett (ed.). Fish Physiology. Vol. 8. Academic Press, New York, NY.
Shah, K. L., B. C. Jha & A. G. Jhingran, 1977. Observations on some aquatic phycomycetes pathogenic to eggs and fry of freshwater fish and prawns. Aquaculture 12: 141–147.
Singhal, R. N., S. Jeet & R. W. Davies, 1984. Ectoparasites of the freshwater food fishes of Haryana. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Anim. Sci.) 93: 663–69.
Singhal, R. N., S. Jeet & R. W. Davies, 1985. The relationship between changes in selected physico-chemical properties of water and the occurence of fish parasites in Haryana (India). Trop. Ecol. 26: 56–58.
Singhal, R. N., S. Jeet & R. W. Davies, 1986. Chemotherapy of six ectoparasitic diseases of cultured fish. Aquaculture 54: 165–171.
Singhal, R. N., S. Jeet & R. W. Davies, 1987. A systematic survey of the endoparasites of cultured fish in Haryana (India). Zool. Anz. 218: 137–144.
Tam, W. H. & P. D. Payson, 1986. Effects of chronic exposure to sublethal pH on growth, egg production, and ovulation in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 43: 275–280.
Willoughby, L. G., 1985. Rapid preliminary screening of Saprolegnia on fish. J. Fish. Dis. 8: 473–476.
Zar, J. H., 1984. Biostatistical Analysis. In Prentice-Hall Biological Sciences Series, W. D. McElroy & C. P. Swanson, (eds). Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.
Zhingran, V. G., 1982. Fish and Fisheries of India. Hindustan Publishing Corporation (India), Delhi, pp. 486–491.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singhal, R.N., Jeet, S. & Davies, R.W. The effects of argulosis-saprolehniasis on the growth and production of Cyprinus carpoi . Hydrobiologia 202, 27–31 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00027090
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00027090