The Occurrence of Cestode Ligula intestinalis (Linnaeus) from Attentive Carplet Amblypharyngodon melettinus (Valenciennes) in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The pleurocercoid stages of Ligula intestinalis (L.) were found in the body cavities of 333 among the 1105 Amblypharyngodon melettinus (Valenciennes) examined from the Victoria Reservoir, Sri Lanka from January 1999 to January 2000. Mean prevalence of this parasite was 23.38%. Mean intensity of infection of L. intestinalis in A. melettinus was 1.006. Mean body condition (CF) of infected A. melettinus was 0.009991 that was significantly different from that of uninfected fish (CF = 0.010445; t = 2.03; p<0.05).The occurrence of this parasite in A. melettinus represents the first record of L. intestinalis in any freshwater fish of Sri Lanka.