Khairulbariyyah Zakaria, Sudau Eh Teet, Nor Hazwani Hamzah, Alia Syafiqah Aznan, Mohamed Tajuddin Abdul Manaf, Wan Nurhafizah Wan Ibrahim, Lee Kok Leong, Nurul Aqilah Iberahim, Nadirah Musa, Laith Abdulrazzak, Hassan Mohd Daud, Mariam Taib, Kishio Hatai, Akbar John B, Jalal K. C. A., Hassan I. Sheikh, and Najiah Musa

DOI: 10.14456/sjst-psu.2021.148

pp. 1131 - 1139

Abstract

Fish health problem presents an ongoing challenge for aquaculture as disease outbreaks cause fish mortalities and
financial losses. This study investigated the fungal infections in common freshwater ornamental and food fish species in
Terengganu, Malaysia. Diseased gold gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus), snakeskin gourami (Trichogaster pectoralis),
angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus), and red hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) with
dermal lesions were sampled for fungal isolation. A total of 12 fungal isolates were isolated, and characterized by macro- and
micro-morphologies of colonies. Isolates were identified by sequence analysis of ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS)
region. Genera Aspergillus, Geotrichum and Pestalotiopsis were more prevalent than Flavodon, Pseudopestalotiopsis,
Trichoderma and Apiotrichum (Trichosporon). This study indicated the advantage of good hatchery settings and management
practices in reducing fungal infections.