Morphometric alterations in exotic freshwater fish, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Cuv. and Val.) upon exposure to endosulfan

Abstract

Variations in morphometric characters of a fish, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Cuv. and Val.) collected from local fish farms have been studied upon exposure to sub lethal doses of endosulfan. Ten characters were studied in percentage of total fish length from which only two characters have been observed to be altered significantly while others showed either non-significant or no specific trend of increase or decrease. In percentage of head length, five characters have been studied and here also two characters have been observed to be altered significantly. The fins were observed to be damaged at the margins. The characters studied have been observed to be genetically controlled though environment has influence on them. Some characters such as maximum body depth and minimum body depth in percentage of total length; eye diameter and inter-orbital distance in percentage of head length can be considered as the morphological pollution indicators.