Notes on the occurrence of Trypanosoma sp. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in freshwater fishes from South Africa

Abstract

A total of 257 fishes from four families, Clariidae, Cichlidae, Cyprinidae and Schilbeidae were collected from three localities: the Sand River Dam, Swaziland; the Nylsvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa and the Vaal Dam and Vaal River Barrage, South Africa. Only fishes (n= 154) from Clariidae and Cichlidae were found to be infected with trypanosomes. A total of 221 Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) were collected from the Vaal Dam and Vaal Barrage area, South Africa. Of these, 74%(89/121) were infected with trypanosomes from the Vaal Dam and 63%(63/100) from the Vaal River Barrage, with no seasonal infection pattern. A prevalence of 25%(1/4) was found in C. gariepinus from the Sand River Dam, Swaziland, and a 50% (1/2) prevalence was found in Tilapia sparrmanii from the Nylsvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa. Standard measurements conformed closely to the morphometric and morphological descriptions of Trypanosoma mukasai. This article provides new locality records for T. mukasai from the Vaal Dam, Vaal River Barrage and Nylsvlei Nature Reserve (South Africa) and the Sand River Dam (Swaziland). Tilapia sparrmanii collected in the Sand River Dam in Swaziland is also noted as a new host record.