Orientocreadium batrachoides Tubangui, 1931 (Orientocreadiidae): the only trematode parasite of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) (Clariidae) from the Asi River (Southern Turkey).

OBJECTIVE Some information is available about the parasite fauna and incidence for Clarias gariepinus in Turkey, but digenean parasites have received little attention. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the parasite fauna of Turkey. METHODS From 2007 to 2008, a total 63 Clarias gariepinus that were caught in the Asi River were purchased from the fish market in Hatay and brought on ice to the Parasitology Research Laboratory at Atatürk University. The fish were dissected. The obtained parasites were fixed with AFA, dyed with Mayer's Carmalum, and mounted with Canada Balsam. RESULTS Forty-eight fish were infected with the Orientocreadium batrachoides. The prevalence of the parasite was 76.2% overall, and 100% in the largest size class of C. gariepinus. There was no significant correlation between fish size and number of parasites. CONCLUSION Our sample of C. gariepinus from the Asi River exhibited high rates of incidence of O. batrachoides which is the first record from Turkey. It was detected that the specimens of O. batrachoides in Turkey are larger than previously reported samples. This is the first clearly documented report of O. batrachoides in teleost fish of Turkey.