Chronic dual exposure (waterborne+dietary) effects of cadmium,zinc and copper on growth and their bioaccumulation in Cirrhina mrigala

During this research endeavor,the chronic effects of dual exposure (waterborne+dietary) of cadmium (cd),zinc (zn) and copper (cu) on the growth performance and tissue-specific bioaccumulation of metals in three age groups (60-,90-and 120-day) of cirrhina mrigala were determined. the exposure of all metals caused significant effects on the weight and total length gains in all three age groups of fish. fish growth was significantly affected due to cu,followed by cd and zn exposures. however,growth of treated fish was significantly lesser than control (un-stressed). fish condition factor did not change significantly due to treatments. zn exposure induced significantly better feed intake in fish than cd and cu treatments. feed conversion efficiency (fce) of fish varied significantly due to treatments that changed with age also. exposure of fish to metals caused significant alterations in fish feeding patterns that caused profound effects on fish growth and fce. therefore,fish growth has been found reliable end point in chronic dual exposure of cd,zn and cu to predict various processes associated with fish bioenergetics. the chronic dual exposure of metals resulted into significantly inconstant buildup of cd,zn and cu in fish body organs also. in general,all metals exhibited their bioaccumulations in fish that followed the order: liver > kidney > gills > muscles > fins > skins > bones. the 60-dayfish displayed significantly higher propensity to accrue all metals while zn accumulation was significantly higher than both cd and cu in the fish body. © 2015 pvj.