Prevalence and Morphology of Helminth Parasites of Fish from River Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

A study of the Helminth parasites of fish of River Swat was conducted from September, 2012 to August, 2013. A total of 250 fish belonging to five genera and six species were examined. The parasites collected were Diplozoon khyberensis, Bathybothrium rectangulum, Bothriocephalus, Nippotaenia, Cucullanidae, Proteocephalus, Rhabdochona charsaddiensis, Rhabdochona schizothoracis and Neoechynorhynchus devdevi. They were identified by morphological characteristics through microscopic techniques. Overall prevalence of the fish parasites was 58% (145/250). Among these Schizothorax plageostomus fish 93.04% (107/115), Schizothorax labiatus 61.11% (33/54), Salmo trutta fario 17.85% (05/28), Gara gotyla 0% (0/09), Rita rita 0% (0/25) and Oncorhynchus mykiss were 0% ( 0/19). The intensity of the parasite varied from 1% to 9.2%. Among them high intensity was noted in Rhabdochona schizothoracis (9.2%) and Schizothorax labiatus.