Seasonal Variation of Acanthocephala Infecting Snake Headed Fish in Hooghly District of West Bengal, India

Abstract

This chapter investigate the seasonal variation of acanthocephala infecting snake headed fish in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India. Snakehead fishes are widely consumed throughout South East Asia, China and India because of their good taste of meat and high nutrient values such as presence of prostaglandins, thromboxane and Omega-6 fatty acid.

The seasonal variation of Pallisentis sp. infecting Channa punctatus (Bloch 1793) was conducted over a period of two years from June 2017- May 2019. The sampling of host fish was done from local fish markets of different regions of the Hooghly district of West Benal. The prevalence, mean intensity, and abundance of infection were studied and statistically verified. A total of 300 fishes were examined irrespective of sex of host fish, out of which 141 fishes were found to be infected with acanthocephalan parasites. Acanthocephalans display a two-host lifecycle involving a variety of arthropods (crustaceans and insects) as their intermediate hosts and different vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) as their definitive hosts. The infection level was higher before the monsoon, moderate during the monsoon, and lower after the monsoon. Medium-sized host fish are typically heavily affected. It was discovered that biotic parameters, such as the eating habits of host fish and the availability of intermediate hosts, such as arthropods, as well as abiotic factors (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, etc.), had an impact on the availability of Pallisentis sp.  Life cycle of the parasite species and immune status of the host fish might be also responsible for such seasonal variations.