Beskrywing van aspekte van die patologie van Ergasilus (Crustacea: Copepoda) indiwidue van Tanganjika-meer op die kieue van Lamprichtys tanganicanus Authors: E. Kilian1; A. Avenant-Oldewage1 Affiliations: 1Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Correspondence to: E. Kilian Postal address: PO Box 524, Aucklandpark 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa How to cite this abstract: Kilian, E. & Avenant-Oldewage, A., 2013, ‘Beskrywing van aspekte van die patologie van Ergasilus (Crustacea: Copepoda) indiwidue van Tanganjika-meer op die kieue van Lamprichtys tanganicanus’, Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie 32(1), Art. #803, 1 page. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/satnt.v32i1.803 Note: This paper was initially delivered at the Annual Congress of the Biological Sciences Division of the South African Academy for Science and Art, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Roodeplaat, Pretoria, South Africa on 01 October 2010. Copyright Notice: © 2013. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Referaatopsommings Open Access Abstract Observations on the pathology of Ergasilus (Crustacea: Copepoda) from Lake Tanganyika on the gills of Lamprichtys tanganicanus. During a recent survey specimens of Ergasilus sarsi were found on the gills of Lamprichthys tanganicanus. Specimens were fixed intact on the gills and serial sections were made at 5 μm and stained with a trichrome stain. Superficial tissue erosion, fusion of secondary lamella, mucous cell proliferation and Rodlet cells were observed. The prevalence of the parasite was 100% and the number of parasites per host extremely high. Inhoud Vier spesies van Ergasilus is al beskryf van visse in die Tanganjika-meer. Tydens ’n onlangse opname is eksemplare van Ergasilus sarsi op die kieue van Lamprichthys tanganicanus in Lubumba in die omgewina van Baraka gevind. Die visse is doodgemaak deur hul rugstring deur te knip en daarna is parasiete en kieue versamel. Parasiete plus die kieue is heel in ’n asetoformaldehied alkohol-oplossing gefikseer en gestoor in 70% etanol. Daarna is dit gedehidreer en in hars ingebed. Seriesneë is gemaak en die sneë is met Heidenhein se asokarmyn- en asaanoplossing gekleur. Oppervlakkige weefsel erosie is waargeneem in die omgewing van die tweede antennas, maxillipedes, en selfs swempote. Versmelting van die sekondêre kieue lamellae kom voor as gevolg van epiteelhiperplasie. Slymsel proliferasie is waargeneem by die kontakvlak tussen die gasheer en parasiet en Rodlet selle is waargeneem. Gebarste bloedvate was aanwesig en bloedselle en weefsel is waargeneem in die intestinum van die parasiet. Die persentasie voorkoms van die parasiet is 100% en die getal parasiete per gasheer is baie hoog, gevolglik kan visrespirasie aangetas word, voorts kan gewigsverlies en die algemene agteruitgang van gesondheid voorkom. Die funksionering van die kieue is ook benadeel deur die verminderde suurstofbindingsvermoë van water by hoër temperature soos aangetref in die mere in tropiese Afrika.