5 Journal of Fisheries Science | Volume 02 | Issue 01 | March 2020 Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jfsr.v2i1.1423 Journal of Fisheries Science https://ojs.bilpublishing.com/index.php/jfs ARTICLE Prevalence of Argulus sp. in Indian Major Carps from Bhangore Block of South 24 Parganas District, West Bengal, India Ratul Chakraborty Debapriyo Mukherjee Avishek Bardhan Prasenjit Mali Koel Bhat- tacharya Sanyal * Gadadhar Dash Department of Aquatic Animal Health, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sci- ences (WBUAFS), 5-Budherhat Road, Chakgaria Campus, P.O. Panchasayar, Kolkata-700 094, West Bengal, India ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received: 18 November 2019 Accepted: 30 January 2020 Published Online: 28 February 2020 The study was carried out to fnd the prevalence and severity of Argulus sp. in Indian Major Carps (IMCs) collected from Bhangore block of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal during November 2018 to August 2019. January (2019) recorded the highest parasitic prevalence (PFI, 83.33%) and the month of August (2019) recorded the lowest parasitic prevalence (PFI, 9%). The identities of selected parasites were further confrmed by molecular identifcation through 18S rDNA analysis. The study revealed that Argulus sp. infestations had great economic implications especially in the winter months and is one of the most prevalent problems in fresh water aquaculture systems. Keywords: Argulus Bhangore Indian major carps Parasites Prevalence Severity *Corresponding Author: Koel Bhattacharya Sanyal, Department of Aquatic Animal Health, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS), 5-Budherhat Road, Chakgaria Campus, P.O. Panchasayar, Kolkata-700 094, West Bengal, India; Email: bhattacharya_koel@yahoo.com 1. Introduction T he aquaculture sector of India is a potent food producing sector providing nutritional security, supporting livelihoods, providing employment and contributing to a major portion of agricultural exports. West Bengal’s complete water area supports the state’s potential fsh farming and provides a variety of nutritional and dietary resources. West Bengal is popularly known as “rice – fsh society” for the love of the people towards fish. Farming of the IMCs mainly takes over the state’s freshwater aquaculture system in promoting fish culture and development in West Bengal. The availability of safe and unique pathogen-free fingerlings and carp fry is of utmost importance. Literature cautioned that diseases, especially the parasitic diseases caused great damage to carps affecting their fry and fngerlings [1] . The intensity and severity of parasitic contamination in fishes show substantial variation within the distinctive environmental situations wherein they live [2] . Certain environmental con- ditions encourage diseases, among which water tempera- ture is a crucial criteria [3] . Disease being the key problem for the fish culture causes a catastrophic effect both in economic and social growth. The upliftment and pro-