IDENTIFYING CRITICAL STAGES IN THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE PARASITE Lernaea (LINNAEUS, 1758) BY INFECTION STUDIES IN Poecilia reticulata

B. PALLAVI¹, K.M. SHANKAR²*, I. AHMED³, P.B. ABHIMAN^4
1Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory, Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Mangalore - 575002, Karnataka, India.
²College of Fisheries, Mangaluru - 575 001, Karnataka, India.
³Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory, Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Mangalore - 575002, Karnataka, India.
⁴Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory, Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Mangalore - 575002, Karnataka, India.
* Corresponding Author : kalkulishankar@gmail.com

Received : 16-01-2015     Accepted : 31-03-2015     Published : 11-06-2015
Volume : 7     Issue : 1       Pages : 140 - 142
Int J Parasitol Res 7.1 (2015):140-142

Keywords : Lernaea, Guppy, Parasite, Nauplius, Copepodite, Maintenance, Infection, Fish
Academic Editor : Dr. Anuradha De
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Author Contribution : The authors wish to thank the NAIP- ICAR, New Delhi, for funding the research and CSIR, New Delhi for providing the Senior Research Fellowship to the first author.

Lernaea spp. is the most harmful ectoparasite of freshwater fishes. This study was carried out to identify critical stages in the life cycle of the fish parasite Lernaea sp. The experimental infection with the in vitro reared first copepodite stage induced infection. The results give essential insights into the pathogenic nature of the parasite and help in devising a control strategy for effectively eradicating infection and minimise economic losses to fish farmers.