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A survey of parasites in freshwater fishes from Nong Han wetland, Udon Thani Province, Thailand

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Abstract

The diversity of fish parasites from freshwater fishes collected from the Nong Han wetland (Udon Thani Province, Thailand) was studied by visually examining 22 freshwater fish species (253 samples) from 19 genera for external and internal parasites. A majority of fishes in the Nong Han wetland were infected by parasites (75.89%). Twenty fish species (75.89%) were infected with a total of 29 species of parasites. These included 9 species of monogeneans, 5 crustaceans, 5 acanthocephalans, 4 nematodes, 3 digeneans, and 3 species of cestodes. Cyclocheilichthys apogon had the most diverse parasite community (8 species). Seasons affected the prevalence and mean intensity of parasitic infection; the prevalence was highest during the rainy (85.54%) and winter (84.75%) seasons, and lower during the summer (63.96%) season. Fish diversity and parasite diversity exhibited a positive correlation relationship. In the light of declining fish populations in the Nong Han wetland, this study may provide critical information for the sustainable management of this wetland. Furthermore, some of the identified fish parasites can be harmful to humans if fish is eaten raw or improperly cooked, as is the tradition in northeastern Thailand, so our findings may bear relevance for public health workers as well.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Sumate Chomphutawach for assistance with data extraction from host-parasite checklists and helping with sample collection. We are very grateful to Khon Kaen University, Department of Fisheries, Thailand for funding this study.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (No. 600096), the earmarked fund for the Fundament Research Funds for the Khon Kaen University (958-4-34566-1).

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  1. Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

    Julaluk Juntaban, Wassana Prisingkorn, Sutee Wongmaneeprateep & Pattama Wiriyapattanasub

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  1. Julaluk Juntaban
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  2. Wassana Prisingkorn
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  3. Sutee Wongmaneeprateep
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Contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows: PW and WP conceptualized the study; PW, JJ, and SW conducted research; PW and SW provided the materials; JJ and WP collected the data; WP and JJ analyzed the data; and JJ and WP wrote the manuscript. All authors took part in the study design, read the final manuscript, and provided comments and suggestions for improvements.

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Correspondence to Pattama Wiriyapattanasub.

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All procedures performed involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards and the approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Khon Kaen University (approval number: IACUC-KKU-93/63), Thailand.

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Juntaban, J., Prisingkorn, W., Wongmaneeprateep, S. et al. A survey of parasites in freshwater fishes from Nong Han wetland, Udon Thani Province, Thailand. Parasitol Res 120, 3693–3708 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07310-9

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