Abstract :
Juvenile (120-day) three fish species viz. Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhina mrigala were exposed to chronic sub-lethal concentrations (1/3^rd of LC50/LD50) of waterborne and dietary copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co), separately, in glass aquaria under constant water temperature (29°C), pH (7.5) and hardness (225 mgL^-1) for 12 weeks. Waterborne and dietary exposures caused significantly variable accumulation of metals in three fish species that followed Zn Ni Cd Co Cu. Fish liver showed significantly higher tendency to accumulate Cu (69.64±25.35 μg g^-1), Cd (68.93±21.65 μg g^-1), Zn (91.46±29.53 μg g^-1), Ni (74.64±18.61 μg g^-1) and Co (22.65±20.56 μg g^-1), followed by that of kidney and gills, with significant differences while muscle and bones exhibited significantly least tendency to accumulate all metals. Labeo rohita (31.63±2.43 μg g^-1) and C. mrigala (31.43±13.70 μg g^-1) exhibited significantly higher ability to amass metals than that of C. catla (27.96±10.28 μg g^-1). Waterborne exposure caused significantly higher accumulation of metals in fish liver (72.69±27.91 μg g^- 1), followed by that in kidney, gills, skin, muscle, fins and bones with the average concentrations of 45.14±18.70, 39.47±21.13, 30.81±12.64, 22.65±17.34, 22.23±11.74 and 12.14±6.25 μg g^-1, respectively. Dietary exposure resulted into significant escalation of metals in fish liver (58.23±32.44 μg g^-1) while it was lowest in bones. Waterborne exposure caused significantly higher accumulation of all metals in fish body than that of dietary treatments.
Keywords :
Metals , Fish , Bio , accumulation , Organs
