Parasitic and bacterial diseases in aquarium-reared Indonesian snakehead (Channa micropeltes)

Toman or Channa micropeltes has high economic potential to be cultured because of their high albumin content. This study aims to obtain information about what kinds of pathogens can infect toman fish in high-density stress (10, 20,30 fish with an average weight of 3 - 15 g and length of 8-14 cm in 20-liter aquarium) and temperatures between 26-34°C that were treated with artificial infections of Aeromonas hydrophila. The results showed that stress treatments with high density and temperature did not cause significant death in toman, or C. micropeltes. The bacteria that can be isolated from toman fish were Aeromonas sp., Moraxella lacunata, Vibrio vulfinicus, and Brevundimonas vesicularis. The parasites found in toman were Trichodina sp. (Prevalence (P) = 25%, Intensity (I) = 1), Gyrodactylus sp. (P= 35%, I= 1.4), Myxosporea sp. (P= 25%, I= 1.2), and Oodinium sp. (P= 20%, I= 7.5), which infected gills, mucus, gut, and skin. Being treated with artificial infection of A. hydrophila, toman fish were very susceptible and 100% death occurred after 24 hours of treatment. The treatment of predisposition factors in toman fish, which can prove adaptation and survival from stress conditions and the presence of the pathogen, will have an impact on the aquaculture development of toman fish so that health management will be applied in aquaculture.