Most fish farmers in developing countries like Nigeria are ignorant of the devastating impact of diseases to aquaculture. This study was carried out to assess fish farmers’ knowledge and perception of symptoms of disease among Clarias gariepinus fish farming communities in Ibadan and Ikorodu. Questionnaires were administered to 50 consenting fish farmers in each community. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the result. A total of 54.2% of respondents had experienced disease outbreak from various culture systems. Majority of the farmers (87.2%) reported frequent outbreaks during the dry season. About 38% believed that majority of disease outbreaks occur during the juvenile stage. Commonly observed signs and symptoms of diseases were: grey colouring of bodies (46.7%), grainy white spot (59.0%), body wounds (87.2%), big head (25.6%), hole in the head (53.3%), haemorrhage (75.6%), stunted growth (80%), skeletal abnormalities (61.4%), fish scratching against hard object (34.9%), loss of appetite (76.6%), pop-eyes (22.7%), cloudy eyes (27.9%), emaciated appearance (48.9%), fish floats upside down (87.0%), tumours (30.2%), discolouration (59.1%), reddening of corners of the mouth and buccal cavity (25%). Most of the identified signs and symptoms were relevant to fish diseases. It was therefore apparent that diseases were constraint to development of sustainable productive aquaculture industry of Ibadan and Ikorodu. It was recommended that fish farmers be educated on biosecurity measures to prevent disease outbreaks.
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