Chawan Matey

Title : Characterisation of the monogenean parasites (Platyhelminthes) of invasive common carp Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in India

Abstract:

Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 is a very popular food fish as well as a popular aquarium fish species. The species is also listed in 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species, a list compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Cyprinus carpio was introduced to India from Sri Lanka and Thailand in 1939 to boost the country’s economy and meet expanding food demand. However, the fish has become established itself in the country, with some negative ecological consequences. From 2019-2023, 38 specimens of Cyprinus carpio were collected from both the wild waters and the aquarium markets of India and investigated for monogenean parasites. Methods of identification and morphometric description followed Gussev (1976). Four species of Dactylogyrus (Dactylogyrus anchoratus, Dactylogyrus extensus, Dactylogyrus minutus and Dactylogyrus vastator) and two species of Gyrodactylus (Gyrodactylus sporostonae and Gyrodactylus sp. 1) were found. Our findings should serve as a caution to Indian fishery managers, since Dactylogyrus minutus has been found to switch to native fish species, whereas Dactylogyrus extensus is a well-known fish pathogen.

Keywords: Cyprinus carpio, monogenean parasites, Dactylogyrus, Gyrodactylus, Invasive

Biography:

Chawan Matey is Ph.D. student in Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, India. She is working in Monogenean parasites (Platyhelminthes) of the ornamental fish trade in India. She joined the research as a Junior Research Fellow in a project under Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India, in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Amit Tripathi. She did her M.Sc. in Zoology (Ecology & Wildlife Biology) from Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, India; also, she has pursued her Bachelor of Education from the same University. Her work focuses on the exotic and native ornamental fish and how the monogeneans present on the exotic ornamental fish can be a thread to the native fish.