Doctoral Degrees (Zoology and Entomology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Zoology and Entomology) by Author "Christison, Kevin William"

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    Branchial monogenean parasites (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) of characin fishes from the Okavango river and Delta, Botswana
    (University of the Free State, 1998-12) Christison, Kevin William; Van As, J. G.; Basson, Linda
    English: The fishes of the Okavango System, Botswana, are of considerable economical and ecological importance. Recently, scientists and local fishermen have reported a dramatic decline in the fish stocks of the Okavango River and Delta. There are many reasons for this decline to which fish parasites ~may at least be a contributing factor. In recent surveys to the Okavango, monogeneans have been found to be of the most prominent parasites infesting the Okavango fishes. The tigerfish, Hydrocynus vittatus Castelnau 1861, especially, show high infestations of the branchial monogeneans, Annulotrema pikei (Price, Peebles & Bamford 1969). The genera Annulotrema Paperna & Thurston 1969 and Characidotrema Paperna & Thurston 1968, are exclusively parasites of characiform fish in Africa. In the Okavango the characiforms are represented by five species, Brycinus lateralis ( Boulenger 1900), Hepsetus odoe (Bloch 1794), Hydrocynus vittatus, Mieralestes acutidens (Peters 1852) en Rhabdalestes maunensis (Fowler 1935), all of which, are infested by species of the genus Annulotrema and only one, Brycinus lateralis (Boulenger 1900), is infested by a species of the genus Charcidotrema. During two field trips to the Okavango System, five Annulotrema species were collected; three of which are known species and two new species. This is the first record of monogeneans from Botswana and represents the southern most distribution recorded of A. curvipenis Paperna 1969 & A. hepseti Paperna & Thurston 1969. Comparative descriptions of the three known species are given and the two new species are described as A. micralesti sp. n. and A. rhabdalesti sp. n. Mixed infestations of A. curvipenis and Characidotrema nursei Ergens 1973 were also recorded from the gills of Brycinus lateralis. This also represents the southernmost, recorded distribution of C. nursei. Investigation of histological sections revealed that although these monogeneans occurred in relatively high numbers on the gills of the fish, the pathology they caused was limited. Examination of the infestation statistics showed that these parasites exhibit site preferences to the gills on which they occurred. This preference is influenced by the number of monogeneans of the same or other species as well as the number of other parasites occurring on the gills of the fish hosts. When considering the results, these monogenean parasites do not seem to cause severe harm to the host fish. Any changes in the environment could alter the face of this parasite-host relationship dramatically and hence the potential pathogenicity of these parasites should, however, not be ignored.
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    Branchial monogenean parasites (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) of fishes from the Okavango River and Delta, Botswana
    (University of the Free State, 2002-06) Christison, Kevin William; Van As, J. G.; Basson, Linda
    English: The Okavango Delta has received much popularity for the host of wildlife that it sustains. More recently it has gained increasing interest for the rich diversity of fish species that occur there. The fishes of the Okavango are also becoming increasingly important as a natural resource attracting revenue to Botswana in the forms of ecotourism and aquaculture and also as an important food source for the local community. The Okavango Delta is a flood driven system and much of the fish distribution throughout the Delta and the timing of certain behavioural activities are dependent on the timing and magnitude of the flood. For the purpose of determining the distribution of fish parasites throughout the system, the distribution of the fish hosts was determined and it was found that fish community structure could be used to distinguish different habitat types within the different ecological regions. Fifty-nine of the expected 68 fish species for the Delta have been collected. These species represent 12 families of which the families Cichlidae and the Cyprinidae are the most abundant, making up about 50 percent of the species collectively. Various parasites have been collected from these fishes of which the monogeneans seem to be the most prevalent and abundant and currently represent approximately 36% of the parasites collected. Most of the monogeneans recorded thus far were representatives of the subclass Polyonchoinea. Of these, all belonged to the families Dactylogyridae and Gyrodactylidae. Of the monogenean parasites infesting the Okavango fishes, the representatives of the family Dactylogyridae were the most diverse. Genera of African dactylogyrids are either endemic to Africa or belong to genera with wider geographical ranges. In general dactylogyrids are host specific and their zoo geographical affinities are therefore linked to the faunistic origin of their hosts. The distribution of dactylogyrid species within Africa is determined by the distribution pattern of their hosts. Twenty-two dactylogyrid species comprising seven genera were recorded, of these 10 species were previously undescribed. This study represents the first records of representatives of the class Monogenea from Botswana and hence the Okavango Delta.