EFFECT OF METHYL PARATHION (AN ORGANOPHOSPHATE) ON BIOCHEMICAL CONTENTS OF FRESH WATER CAT FISH HETEROPNEUSTES FOSSILIS (BLOCH)

The present work was planned to study the effect of methyl parathion an organophosphate compound (OP) on biochemical contents of fresh water cat fish Heteropneustis fossilis. The exposure of fish to the sub-lethal concentrations of the toxicant methyl parathion was investigated and the variations were observed in biochemical contents in different tissues of the fish i.e. gill, liver, intestine, muscle and brain. The quantitative variations were observed in proteins, carbohydrates and ninhydrine positive substances at different time intervals i.e. 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. The results revealed that the components of proteins, carbohydrates and ninhydrine positive substances were found to be decreased significantly at different time intervals of methyl parathion exposure to different tissues of fish compared to control. The maximum decrease in proteins followed by ninhydrine positive substances (free amino acids) and carbohydrates was observed at 72 h and 96 h compared to 24 h and 48 h in different tissues of the fish H. fossils. Thus, our present investigation reports that the changes observed were depending on period of exposure of fish to the concentration of methyl parathion.