Seasonality and histopathology of Trichodina puytoraci Lom, 1962, a parasite of flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) from Tunisia

During a parasitological survey in Ghar El Melh Lagoon in Tunisia, 108 flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus L., 1758) were investigated for protozoan ectoparasites. Trichodina puytoraci Lom, 1962 infecting the gills of the examined fish were isolated and reported for the first time from this locality. The overall infestation prevalence and mean intensity level were 22.42% and 70 plus or minus 8.1 trichodinids per fish, respectively. The highest prevalence was observed in spring. The relationship between host's size and parasite prevalence was significant. The histopathological study revealed that M.cephalus heavily infested by T.puytoraci exhibited serious lesions such as hyperplasia of the epithelial cells, fusion and necrosis of secondary lamellae.Original Abstract: Tijekom parazitoloskog pregleda 108 primjeraka cipla glavasa (Mugil cephalus L., 1758) u Ghar El Melh Laguna u Tunisu, istrazivani su ektoparaziti iz grupe protozoa. Skrge pregledanih riba bile su zarazene s parazitom Trichodina puytoraci Lom, 1962 koji je izoliran i utvrden po prvi put za ovaj lokalitet. Ustanovljena je ukupna prevalencija zaraze (22,42%) i srednja razina intenziteta (70 plus or minus 8,1) trichodinida po primjerku. Najveca prevalencija uocena je u proljece. Odnos izmedu velicine domacina i rasprostranjenosti nametnika je bio znacajan. Histopatoloska studija otkrila je da je cipal glavas, M.cephalus, tesko zarazen parazitom T.puyioraci, izlozen ozbiljnim promjenama kao sto su hiperplazija epitelnih stanica te spajanje i nekroza sekundarnih lamela.