Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) tilapiae (Baylis, 1948) infest the intestine of the commonly-consumed fresh water fish, Oreochromis niloticus, inhabiting Baher Shebeen area, Menofeya governorate, Egypt. Examination of fish performed during eight successive seasons from May, 2005 till March, 2007, to detect the prevalence, intensity and abundance of infection with A. tilapiae according to host parameters (sex, weight and length) using different statistics tests. The study complements the description of some characteristic features of this acanthocephalan using scanning electron microscopy. The results shows low prevalence rate of infection all over the year in the collection site with significant differences in the intensity of infection between all seasons and between male and female hosts. Small fish is more frequently infected with the acanthocephalan, however higher intensity of infection was reported in larger/older fish. The results revealed the shape of the body spines in different trunk regions and confirms the presence of some ultrastructures in the Egyptian specimen that have been described before in this acanthocephalan from different regions of Africa.
Key words: Acanthogyrus tilapiae, Oreochromis niloticus, SEM, Epidemiology
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