Types of Parasites on Fresh Water Fish

Saltwater fish and freshwater fish can both be affected by parasites. Parasites infect the intestinal system of freshwater fish, using them as a food source during all or most of their life cycle. Although the parasites prosper from this interaction, the freshwater fish suffer. Parasites can lead to blood loss, destroy tissue and cause secondary infection. The parasites strip freshwater fish of their nutritional needs, causing them to starve and eventually die.

  1. Significance

    • Parasites in freshwater fish affect both the fishing industry and aquarium owners. Deaths devastate fish farm production and frustrate hobby fishermen. Typically, issues in the environment cause parasites in freshwater fish. Stress, bad diets, overcrowding and poor water quality can all lead to problems. Proper care of freshwater habitats helps prevent parasitic infection in other animals and humans as well.

    Tapeworms

    • A tapeworm uses a freshwater fish as a host for the intermediate or primary resources it needs to survive. The tape burrows inside the intestine and matures in the tissues after the fish ingests water fleas or infected snails. Larva bumps appear on fish when the tapeworm has matured. If an animal such as a bird eats infected raw fish, the tapeworm larva can find its way into its intestines. Praziquantel is the medicine often prescribed to animals infected by tapeworm parasites.

    Roundworms

    • Roundworms live in the intestines and stomach lining of fish. They may travel to the abdominal cavity or muscle tissue. Freshwater fish tend to be infected by either capillaria or camillanus roundworms. Large capillaria head for the gut through the mouth of the fish, while, camillanus, tiny thread-like parasites, enter into the fish's anus. Fish food mixed with fenbendazole is prescribe to treat both kinds of roundworm parasites in aquarium fish.

    Flagellates

    • Flagellates have tiny bodies (5-micron) with tail-like appendages that allow them to be mobile. These one-celled parasites cause abdominal thinness and distention. Other signs of infection in fish include yellow feces and reduced appetite. This parasite is only diagnosed through microscopic analysis of dead freshwater fish. Metronizazole is given to medicate fish kept in tanks.

    Coccidia

    • Coccidia parasites lives in the cells of the intestinal track in freshwater fish. Once ingested, coccidia forms cysts on the inner lining. Coccidia spores come from worms or contaminated water. As the parasite matures, more spores spread into new cells and further contaminate the freshwater environment. Coccidia can be found by evaluating fish feces under a microscope. An amprolium treatment is usually prescribed, but may not be effective after severe contamination has taken place in fresh water or an aquarium.