Haematological responses in a freshwater fish Channa punctatus (Bloch) exposed to profenofos

Toxicological investigations of organophosphate pesticide profenofos exposed to a freshwater fish, Channa punctatus by using haematological parameters. On the basis of calculated valves of LC50 of profenofos in the fish 15 days laboratory acclimatized fishes were divided into three groups and exposed to three test concentrations of profenofos viz., sublethal-I (1/4th of LC50), sublethal-II (1/2nd of LC50) and sublethal-III (3/4th of LC50). The blood sampling was done at regular intervals of 24 h for assessment of heamatological indices. Some notable changes were recorded which include red blood cells (RBC) count, white blood cells (WBC) count, haemoglobin percentage and clotting time (CT). The significant decrease in RBC count, Hb %, and CT and increase in total leukocyte count is suggestive of noxious nature of the pesticide for the fish C. punctatus. The observed haematological responses may be used as non-specific biomarkers in the field of eco-toxicology.