EFFECT OF OXYTETRACYCLINE AND CHLORTETRACYCLINE ON SURVIVAL OF THE TREMATODE Heterophyes sp. IN THE FLESH OF MULLET CAUGHT IN BRACKISH EGYPTIAN WATERS

SUMMARY– Mullet, Mugil cephalus, caught from brackish Egyptian waters, serve as an intermediate host for Heterophyes parasite which renders such fish hazardous to health. The objective of this work was to show the effectiveness of antibiotics, used to prolong the storage life of fresh fish, as parasiticides. To achieve this, both whole mullet and small portions of infected mullet tissue were dipped in oxytetracycline (OTC) and chlortetracycline (CTC) solutions of different concentrations ranging from 30–4000 ppm. The rate of parasite destruction, very slow at low concentrations of either antibiotic, increased at much higher concentrations of antibiotic. However, a concentration of antibiotic sufficiently high to destroy the parasite completely cannot be used for the preservation of fresh fish because of the high concentration of antibiotic in the fish tissue after treatment. Although these findings are negative, they have a place in the literature.