Pentastomid infections in cichlid fishes in the Kruger National Park and the description of the infective larva of Subtriquetra rileyi n. sp.

Abstract

During 1995, studies were conducted on the pentastome fauna of the cichlid fishes Tilapia rendalli and Oreochromis mossambicus in the Kruger National Park. The prevalence of infective pentastome larvae was 40,5% in T. rendalli and 9,2% in O. mossambicus. Encapsulated nymphs of Leiperia cincinnalis were taken from the mesentery, while Sebekia wedli was either encapsulated or free-living in the swim bladder. The subtriquetrids moved about freely in the swim bladder. L. cincinnalis was present in 0,5% of T. rendalli and 0,8% of O. mossambicus and additional descriptions and measurements of the nymphs are presented. S. wedli was present in 2,5% of O. mossambicus and a new Subtriquetra species, for which the name Subtriquetra rileyi n. sp. is proposed, in 7,5%. This ratio in T. rendalli was 40,5% and 2,2%, respectively. Of the infected T. rendalli, 89% harboured one or two sebekiid larvae, while a single fish harboured eight. Fish infected with S. rileyi contained only one larva each . The condition factor of infected T. rendalli was compared statistically to that of uninfected fish and no significant difference found. However, infected fish were significantly shorter and lighter than uninfected ones. S. rileyi differs from the other three known Subtriquetra spp., Subtriquetra subtriquetra, Subtriquetra megacephala and Subtriquetra shipleyi in both hook size and annulus counts. Furthermore, S. subtriquetra occurs in South American crocodilians (Riley 1986), and S. megacephala and S. shipleyi in crocodilians in India (Fain 1961). This is the first record of the genus occurring in Africa and although adult specimens of S. rileyi n. sp. were not obtained, we assume that the new species is specific to Nile crocodiles.