Treatment of Microcotyle sebastis (Monogenea: Polyopisthocotylea) Infestation with Praziquantel under Commercial Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) Culture Conditions

Treatment of Microcotyle sebastis (Monogenea: Polyopisthocotylea) Infestation with Praziquantel under Commercial Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) Culture Conditions

The treatment efficacy of oral administration of praziquantel against the blood-sucking monogenean Microcotyle sebastis under the commercial rockfish-culture conditions was evaluated. The quantity of praziquantel added to the food was calculated so that the amount of praziquantel ingested daily by fish was 200mg or 400mg/kg body weight (bw). The fish were fed a moist-pelleted fish meal supplemented with praziquantel at an rate of 0 (control), 200 or 400 mg of praziquantel per kg bw, respectively, for 3 times at an interval of 24 h. On 1 day to 8 days after the treatment, 10 fish were taken randomly from each net-pen daily (80 fish in each group in total), and the efficacy of each treatment was confirmed. Abundance of worms were significantly reduced in groups fed praziquantel-supplemented diets. The results clearly demonstrated that feeding the praziquantel-supplemented diet was effective for controlling M. sebastis infestation in practical commercial rockfish-culture systems without imposing any handling stress.