Isolation And Identification Of Fungi From African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus) Skinlesionin Selected Local Gover? Ment Areas In Abia State, Nigeria.:- Nwankwo Joel O

ABSTRACT Fungi have been identified as a major cause of diseases ofthe external tissues offish that lead to low yield of fry, low production and high mortality in fish culture. Therefore, a purposive study design was employed to isolate and identify fungal contaminants of Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) skin lesions in three (3) local government areas in Abia state. A total of30 Catfish with skin lesions samples from three farms in the three LGA, were examined for the presence offungal organisms. The observed percentage contamination of the samples with fungal organisms was 100%, 80%, and 60% in Umuahia South, Ikwuano, and Umuahia North, respectively. The fungal organisms isolated from the samples were Aspergillus species (Aspergillusfumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus niger ), Penicillium spp, Saprolegnia specie, Fusarium spp, Paecilomyces spp, and Yeast. Among the fungal species isolated, Aspergillus showed a prevalence of 70%, 60% and 40%; Penicillium showed prevalence of40%, 20%, and 20%, and Saprolegnia showed prevalence of 50%, 60%, and 60%, in Umuahia South, Ikwuano and Umuahia North, respectively. Fusarium and Yeast showed a prevalence of20% and 10% only in Umuahia South. The observed frequency of isolation ofthe fungal species showed that Aspergillus species (55 %) and Saprolegnia species were heigest in Ikwuano and Umuahia North, respectively whereas the frequency ofisolation of other offungal species was low, ranging between 30% to 0%. No association between the various fungal species isolated from the Catfish skin from the lesions ( P > 0.05) and the location of the farms was recorded in this study. Hence , the current findings suggest that there is a need to pay attention to fish health in culture so as to conserve public health and safeguard the farmer's investment.