SEASONAL VARIATION OF INFESTATION BY GILL MONOGENEAN PARASITES AND CONDITION FACTOR OF COPTODON GUINEENSIS (GUNTHER, 1862) IN THE SECTOR IV OF EBRIE LAGOON (COTE DIVOIRE)

The infestation of Coptodonguineensis, a fish prized by the local population with aquaculture potential, was examined in sector IV of the Ebrire lagoon for the first time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of seasons on parasitism and condition factor of Coptodonguineensis in this lagoon. The fish were captured from February 2022 to March 2023. Parasites were sought in the gills and mounted between slide and coverslip according to standard methods for studying parasitic Monogeneans. The values of the diversity index such as specific richness, Shannon weaver, Equitability and Simpson were the highest in the rainy season. Regarding infestation, the highest prevalence and mean intensity values of parasites were recorded in rainy seasons, indicating that fish were the most infested in the rainy period. All parasitized fish had a lower condition factor than unparasitized fish, and this was more observed during dry seasons. This study highlighted the period of high infestation of this fish species. This information is useful for developing strategies for fish farmers and veterinarians to monitor and control parasitic diseases.