Prevalence of Argulus sp. in Indian Major Carps from Bhangore block of South 24 Parganas District, West Bengal, India

The study was carried out to find the prevalence and severity of Argulus sp. in Indian Major Carps (IMC) collected from Bhangore block of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal during November’2018 to August’2019. The highest parasitic prevalence (PFI, 83.33%) had been recorded in the month of January and lowest (PFI, 9%) in the month of August. The identities of selected parasites were further confirmed by molecular identification through 18S rDNA analysis. The study revealed that Argulus infestation was of great implications from economic point of view throughout the study period especially in winter and is the most prevalent problem in fresh water aquaculture systems.