Trematodes obtained from snails in giant gourami ponds supplied by well water in Tien Giang province, Vietnam

A study on trematode obtained from freshwater snails in 30 grow-out giant gourami ponds supplied by well water was conducted in Chau Thanh district, Tien Giang province, Vietnam. The snails were sampled in the flooding season (October 2020), the intermediary season (January 2021) and the non-flooding season (April 2021). Eight snail species belonging to 8 genera, 4 families were found including Sermyla tornatella (48.6%), Sinotaia lithophaga (19.3%), Filopaludina sumatrensis (15.4%), Melanoides tuberculata (6.4%), Pomacea sp. (4.7%), Bithynia siamensis (4.2%), Thiara scabra (0.8%) and Tarebia granifera (0.6%). Cercariae were recovered from only two snail species of Melanoides tuberculata with Xiphidio cercariae and Furcocercous cercariae with a prevalence of 7.4%, and Bithynia siamensis with Xiphidio cercariae and Pleurolophocercous cercariae with the infection rate of 6.9%. The trematodes were found in 8 ponds (26.7%), 7 ponds (23.3%), and 3 ponds (10.0%) in the intermediary season, the non-flooding season, and the flooding season, respectively (P>0.05). More research on the epidemiology of trematodes in snails in fishponds should be done to contribute to food safety and sustainable aquaculture.