Parasites in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) raised in an intensive system in the mountain region of Santa Catarina, Brazil

ABSTRACT With the aim to determine the prevalence and mean parasite intensity in Oncorhynchus mykiss, 120 specimens were analyzed between April and September 2018. The cavity analysis was done by visual inspection, scraping of mucus, and extraction of the branchial arches. In the evisceration process, the intestine, the liver, and the kidney were separated, while the musculature was analyzed using the “candling table” method. All the collected material was preserved in 10% buffered formaldehyde and sent to the Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, of the Center for Agroveterinary Sciences (CAV) of the University of the State of Santa Catarina (UDESC) for making the slides and identifying the parasites. Parasites were detected only in the analysis of the scraping of body mucus. Only specimens of the genus Trichodina were identified, in 34 of the 120 fish analyzed, in two collections, resulting in a prevalence of 28.33%. In total, 144 specimens of Trichodina were observed. The overall mean intensity was of 4.24 parasites in each fish analyzed. Characteristic lesions of infection by protozoa were not identified. This is the first report of the occurrence of Trichodina spp. in O. mykiss bred in an intensive system in Brazil, with low rates of parasitic infection in the mountain region of Santa Catarina.