A Survey on the diet, feeding indices and incidence percentage of ichthyophthirosis in Spirlin fish (Alburnoides bipunctatus) in Kaleybar Chay,

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

Kaleybar Chay is one of the most important watersheds of the Aras River. For the first time, in order to identify the biology of Alburnoides bipunctatus and the level of infection by Ichthyophthirius multifilis in this river. Totally 53 Spirlin fish have been caught by hand nets in the specified station since fall 2016 to summer 2017. The all of them were caught alive and transferred to the laboratory in the specific containers and anesthetized via hitting their head and the type of fish was determined and the biometry indices were studied using identification keys. Microscopic examinations were conducted on the samples taken from the skin, fins and gills. The parasites were identified by diagnostic keys. Mean longitude and weight were 67±30 mm and 5.23±2 g respectively. The results of this study indicated the highest and lowest amount of feeding level were in winter and spring and the highest (42.85%) and the lowest (7.96%) infestation percent were seen in summer and autumn respectively. There was no infestation with parasites in winter. Of total of 53 specimens, 9 fish (16.98%) were infected with Ichthyophthirius multifilis. According to the findings, Spirlin fish was a benthivorous, detrivorous. Zooplanktons were not detected in the gut of Spirlin fish due to the small size of them and low planktonic resources. Therefore, zooplankton did not play a role in feeding of this fish.
 

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