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Haematological and haematopoietic response to acid stress in an air‐breathing freshwater fish, Channa punctatus Bloch
Author(s) -
Dheer J. M. S.,
Dheer T. R.,
Mahajan C. L.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1987.tb05785.x
Subject(s) - biology , glycogen , haematopoiesis , zoology , medicine , endocrinology , physiology , genetics , stem cell
Response of Channa punctatus to acidic water was studied by exposing fishes to pH 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5 for 6 weeks. Growth and mortality data indicated increasing stress as the acid level in the ambient water increased. While no mortality was recorded at pH 6.5, a distinct loss of weight compared to continuous gain in body weight in control fish indicated stress. As the pH level decreased, the rate of loss in body weight increased accompanied by mortality which rose to as high as 60% within 3 weeks in fishes exposed to water at pH 3.5. Haematological investigations confirmed the general stress indicated by growth and mortality data. Thus. RBC and related values indicated overall polycythemia. However, eosinophils, basophils. and large and small lymphocytes showed a distinct fall in number as compared to the control. Correlated haematopoietic studies revealed that both the initial and penultimate stages in RBC and neutrophil development recorded an increase parallel to that observed in peripheral blood, but intermediate stages, probably because they were unable to keep pace with the fast turnover, showed a relative decrease. Biochemical investigations showed an increase not only in blood glucose level but also in liver glycogen content. However, there was a significant decrease in muscle glycogen reserves. The significance of these changes is discussed.