The Prevalence of Cestode Infection in a Freshwater Catfish, Sperata Sarwari

A sample of seventy specimens of a freshwater catfish, Sperata sarwari was collected from Mangla Lake during February to November 2005 and their guts preserved in 5 % formalin. After the catch, sample was divided into two sub-samples as size class I (31-60 cm) and size class II (61-90 cm). The gut of each fish specimen was examined for the presence of internal helminth parasites. The study revealed that size class II has higher prevalence of infection (39.13 %) than size class I (28.85 %) infected with only one species of cestode, Lucknowia fossilis. While the mean intensity of infection was lower (3.67) in size class II as compared to size class I (8.73). These results indicate that the fishes found in Mangla Lake are good in general health since they are devoid of heavy parasitic load and the hygienic conditions of Mangla Lake are satisfactory.