Prevalence of Fungi Associated with Fish Cultivation Using Traditional Microscopy

Over the last ten years, fish ponds have become more and more popular in Iraq as a vital source of protein for human health. However, water pollution poses a major risk to aquaculture systems and may result in significant financial losses. The study aims to identify the primary fungal pathogens in fish ponds in several Wasit province (Iraq) locations using traditional methods. In Wasit province (Iraq), 37 fish ponds spread throughout five major locations (Al-Kut, Al-Suwaira, Al-Aziziyah, Al-Numaniyah, and Al-Hay) were the sites of an equal collection of 148 water samples in June and July of 2024. Following filtering, all samples were cultivated on three distinct media: Potato Dextrose Agar, Malt Extract Agar, and Sabouraud Cycloheximide Chloramphenicol Agar. The resulting fungal isolate colonies were then purified and described both visually and microscopically. Overall, 83.78% of fish ponds and 75.68% of water samples were found to be infected with at least one fungus. Regarding the study areas, there was a significant increase in fungal contamination of water samples in Al-Hay and a significant decrease in Al-Numaniyah and Al-Suwaira. In contrast, there were significant increases in fungal contamination in the study areas' fish ponds in Al-Aziziyah, Al-Numaniyah, Al-Hay, and Al-Kut, but a decrease in Al-Suwaira. Additionally, a total of 12 different species and genera were found in the study samples, which included 382 fungal colonies. In comparison to the values of other fungal colonies, such as Cladosporium sp., Rhizopus stolonifer, Microsporium cani, Fusarium solani, Candida albicans, and Alternaria alternate, there were notable increases in Aspergillus niger and Penicillium sp. and significant decreases in Trichophyton mentagrophytres, Helminthosporium sp., Mucor sp., and Trichoderma sp. Fungal colonies were found to have significantly increased in Al-Kut and decreased in Al-Aziziyah among the studied locations. The proportion of fungal colonies in each location increased significantly: Fusarium solani and Microsporium cani in Al-Hay; Alternaria alternate in Al-Suwaira; Trichophyton mentagrophytres in Al-Aziziyah; Trichoderma sp. in Al-Numaniyah; and Helminthosporium sp. in Al-Kut. Our research showed that there appeared to be fungal contamination in fish ponds in Wasit province, indicating the significance of national studies to look into and manage fungal contamination and its diseases in order to guarantee the aquaculture production industry's continued high-quality fish growth.