A CASE STUDY OF GILL MONOGENEAN INFECTIONS IN WILD TILAPIA FROM MULUNGUSHI DAM ZAMBIA

ABSTRACTThe epidemiology of parasite diseases that affect aquaculture systems is significantly influenced by wildfish populations in natural bodies. In Zambia, wild tilapia (Oreochromis spp) plays an essential role in Food securityand rural livelihood However, their ecological and hydrological proximity to aquaculture operations allows them tofunction as potential reservoirs of parasitic infections. Among these, gill monogeneans are significant ectoparasitesthat damage gill tissues, impair and osmoregulation, and reduced growth and survival in cultured fish.The Gillmonogeneans parasite is an extremely harmful ectoparasites that harms fish gill tissues, hinder respiration andosmoregulation, and lower development and survival in farmed fish, are among the most significant of theseparasites.This case study investigated the infection of gill monogenean parasite in wild tilapia population from asingle natural water body, Mulungushi dam, Zambia, in order to assess their potential relevance to aquaculturehealth management. A cross section case study was conducted between January and February 2025, during which 60wild tilapia specimens were collected from five pre-determined zones within the dam. Fish were identified to specieslevel using morphologically examined for monogenean parasites.Statistical analyses included one-way anova tocompare mean parasite abundance among host species and chi-square test to evaluate differences in prevalenceacross species and sampling zones. The overall prevalence of infection was 28.33% (17/60 fish), with an averagelevel of 8.2 ± 4.1 parasites per fish that were infected and an average of 2.5 parasites per fish that were inspected.Species-specific prevalence was highest in tilapia rendalli (31.25%), and most infections (70.59%) were of lowintensity (≤8 parasites per host). Parasites abundance differed significantly among tilapia species (ANOVA, p <0.001).As a case study, these results show that endemic gill monogenean infections can be present in wild tilapialiving in a natural water body in Zambia, potentially acting as a chronic source of infestation for adjacent or linkedaquaculture systems