Wild fish as a parasite reservoir for farm fish in the Murray Darling Basin in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Aquaculture is an ever growing industry in the world. In Australia aquaculture is the fastest growing primary industry. Wild freshwater fish could form a parasite reservoir for farmed freshwater fish. In the Murray-Darling Basin region aquaculture is of economic importance and still growing. Only few researches had been done on parasites infecting freshwater fish in Australia, let alone in this region. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and diversity of parasites present in wild freshwater fish in the Murray-Darling Basin. Wild freshwater fish were collected from three different areas in this region and parasites were collected for further examination. The mains species of parasites found were Dactylogyrus and Bothriocephalus.