Original Article

Histopathology of the gills of Lake Van Fish Alburnus tarichi (Güldenstädt, 1814) infected with Dactylogyrus spp. parasites

Authors:
Ayşe Nur Erdemir¹ , Zehra Alkan¹ , Burcu Ergöz Azizoğlu¹ , Ahmet Sepil² , Elif Kaval Oğuz³ , and Ahmet Regaib Oğuz^1
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080, Van, Turkey
²Faculty of Fisheries, Department of Basic Sciences, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080, Van, Turkey
³Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080, Van, Turkey

ABSTRACT
The Lake Van fish is an anadromous carp endemic to the Lake Van basin. In this study, the histopathological effects of Dactylogyrus spp. parasites, which naturally infected fish, on the gills were determined during reproductive migration. Fish gills were stained with hematoxylin and eosin after routine histological procedures and apoptotic cells in the gills were determined immunohistochemically. Dactylogyrus spp. parasites were found in 8 of the 60 fish caught in the study. No parasites were found in the fish sampled from the lake. It was observed that the parasites caused hypertrophy, hyperplasia, edema, epithelial desquamation, hemorrhage, fusion of secondary lamellae, and necrosis in the gills. Immunohistochemically, no increase in the number of apoptotic cells was observed in the gills of the parasite-infected fish when compared with the non-infected fish gills. As a result, it can be inferred that the lake water has a restrictive effect in fish against parasites. Histopathologic lesions caused by the observed parasites in fish caught in fresh water could significantly affect gill functions.

Keywords: apoptosis, gill, histopathology, Lake Van

^{Available Online: 22 May 2023}

How to cite:
Erdemir AN, Alkan Z, Azizoğlu Ergöz B, Sepil A, Oğuz Kaval E and Oğuz AR 2023. Histopathology of the gills of Lake Van Fish Alburnus tarichi (Güldenstädt, 1814) infected with Dactylogyrus spp. parasites. The Palawan Scientist, 15(1): 34-40. https://doi.org/10.69721/TPS.J.2023.15.1.04

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