A total of 1 847 fishes (16 species) from 14 reservoirs in northern and north-eastern regions of South Africa were collected and examined for larval Contracaecum spp. between 2005 and 2013. This study, the first to examine several potential second intermediate hosts, found Clarias gariepinus, Coptodon rendalli, Cyprinus carpio, Hydrocynus vittatus, Labeobarbus marequensis, Marcusenius macrolepidotus, Micropterus salmoides, Oreochromis mossambicus and Schilbe intermedius infected with the third-stage larvae. Coptodon rendalli, Marcusenius macrolepidotus and Micropterus salmoides are new host records for South Africa. A generalised linear model identified locality as the main factor affecting parasite burden.