ABSTRACT
Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) fingerlings were stocked (60 fishes/m3) in cemented square tanks for ornamental fishery purposes at the College Fish Farm in Mangalore. A total of 400 fishes with a mean weight (g) ranging from 3.24 ± 1.21 to 6.70 ± 1.13 and a mean length (cm) of 7.50 ± 0.94 to 9.50 ± 1.10 were examined. A severe outbreak of salt-like granule white spots was found on the body surface. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, a ciliate pathogen, was identified as the causative agent by clinical signs, wet mount, and histopathological observations. Infected fishes were transferred and equally distributed to the 0.45 m3 glass aquaria and treated with three treatments: (T1) methylene blue + salt; (T2) raising temperature with salt; and (T3) formalin + malachite green. The best fingerling survival (55 ± 9.36%) was obtained by elevated water temperature with salt in T2.
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. K. S. Ramesh, Head of the Aquatic Health Management Laboratory, College of Fisheries, Mangalore, for the technical support to carry out this work. The authors are very grateful to and kindly acknowledge the reviewers for their careful and meticulous reading of the paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.