Survey of external parasites infestation of cyprinidea in Zarine-rud river in West Azerbaijan province

In this research, external parasites infestation of carp fishes in Zarrineh-rud river, was examined. The species which were examined included capoeta, cyprinus carpio, carasius and ctenophoran. The fish were caught from summer 2012 to summer 2013 and their skin, fins and gills were examined to detect external parasites. During the year a total of 480 fish were caught alive and transferred to the laboratory and examined following anesthesia and identification. Microscopic examinations were conducted on samples taken from the skin, fins and gills and the isolated parasites were studied under the light microscope (4x-100x magnification). Finally, collected data were analyzed by Excel,v.2013 and SPSS,v.19 and the student T-test was run to determine the relationship between the variables. Totally, seven different parasite species, including two species of protozoa, four monogenea and a crustacean were identified, all of which had direct life cycle (Dactylogyrus lenkorani, Dactylogyrus Iamellatus, Dactylogyrus extensus, Clinostomum complanatum, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Trichodina sp, Lernaea sp, Paradiplozoon sp.). According to the results, seventy percent of the fishes were infested by the mentioned species of parasites. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis was the most prevalent parasite (65.00%), whereas Paradiplozoon sp.1 was the least (0.54%), at p<0.05. The data analysis indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between different seasons (p<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the infested organs, with gills being the most infested organ (p<0.05).