The occurrence of metazoan endoparasites of Schilbe intermedius Rüppell, 1832 from the Nwanedi-Luphephe Dams of the Limpopo River System, South Africa

The present study deals with the survey of endoparasites from Schilbe intermedius (Silver catfish) at the Nwanedi-Luphephe Dams from July 2009 to May 2010. The hosts (n = 60) were collected using gill nets and examined for endoparasites. The following parasites were recorded: three species of trematodes, i.e., Clinostomum metacercariae in the body cavity (prevalence 40%), an unidentified adult digenean in the small intestine (prevalence 33.3%) and Diplostomum metacercariae from the eye (prevalence 1.7%); two species of nematodes, i.e., Contracaecum larvae in the body cavity (prevalence 95%) and Paracamallanus cyathopharynx from the intestine (prevalence 63.3%). None of the fish examined during this study were in a notably poor state of health due to parasitism. Correlations between endoparasite infection and host size, as well as seasonal variation in their infection dynamics associated with environmental changes, were detected.