MYXOZOAN INFECTIONS IN CULTURED MAJOR CARPS IN MYANMAR

Aquaculture in Myanmar has developed in recent decades with the annual production of 800,000 tons. However, relatively little work has been done to study the parasites and diseases of cultured fish. The present study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of myxozoan parasites in three major carps, catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala)  in Myanmar. A total of 430 individuals of Rohu, 286 of marigal and 232 of catla were sampled from culture farm located in Yangon environs from June 2012 to August 2015. Skin, gills and internal organs, viz., eyes, brain, gills, heart, swim bladder, liver, gallbladder, muscles, intestine and kidneys were examined for infection. Four species of myxozoa, including one species of Zschokkella, three species of Myxobolus and one species Thelohanellus were observed in rohu. Zschokkella sp. infected the gallbladder whilst Myxobolus spp. and Thelohanellus sp. were found in the scale, gills and skull bone of fish. In mrigal, Myxobolus and Thelohanellus spp. were found in the gills and mouth cavity respectively. In Catla, Myxobolus was found in the gills while Zschokella was recorded in the gallbladder. Ongoing studies are being conducted on histopathology of infected fish as well as small subunit ribosomal RNA gene analysis.