Note on the Diversity of Freshwater Fish Parasites in the Mediterranean Basin: Case of the Barbus Genus

Bahouar, El -Houssaine; Abba, El Hassan; Loukili, Abdechahid; Loubna, Mrabet; Karim, Khaoula

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2024.369533

Note on the Diversity of Freshwater Fish Parasites in the Mediterranean Basin: Case of the Barbus Genus

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Laboratory of Biotechnology, Bio-resources and Bioinformatics, Khénifra Higher School of Technology; Sultane Moulay Slimane University, Morocco

² Laboratory of “Scientific Research and Educational Innovation”, Regional Center for Education and Training Professions, (CRMEF Rabat-Salé-Kénitra), Morocco

³ Laboratory of multidisciplinary research in science, technology and society, Khénifra Higher School of Technology; Sultane Moulay Slimane University, Morocco

10.21608/ejabf.2024.369533

Abstract

A diverse range of freshwater habitats may be found in the Mediterranean basin, which is also home to a rich variety of cyprinids, including the genus Barbus. Numerous factors pose a threat to this diversity, increasing the susceptibility of fish to parasitic infections. The current study attempted to investigate the Barbus's parasitic variety. In Morocco, publications concerning this subject are rare and limited to certain taxa and specific biogeographic zones. Patrick Berrebi (1983) is the first researcher to report the infestation of three species of Moroccan barbel from the Atlantic slope, by Myxobolus sp., whereas, El Gharbi and other collaborators (1994), based on morphological criteria, were able to describe fifteen new species of Monogeneans, in fifteen species of the genus Barbus. Then in recent years, Rahmouni and other colleagues (2017) identified four new species of Dactylogyrus in the gills of three species of Luciobarbus, originally collected by Heckel (1843) in different watersheds in northern Morocco. In Algeria, Meddour (2009) in his investigation of the fish parasitofauna of Lake Oubeira, was able to discover two cestodes and an acanthocephalan. While in the south of France, Alain Lambert (1977) identified two species of Monogenes among the fluviatile barbel in the station of La Chapelette (Bouches-du-Rhône). However, Batbus meridionnalis is the most commonly parasitized host species in Spain. The study of parasites in freshwater fish of the genus Barbus in the Mediterranean region has shown a lot of variation, but most research has only focused on certain types of parasites. This limits our understanding of the full range of parasites that infect these fish.

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