Bleached Sulphite Pulp Mill Effluents Adversely Affect Cellular and Subcellular Features of Anabas testudineus Fish Tissues: An Electron Microscopic Analysis

摘要

The ultra structural features of some tissues (gill, liver and muscle) in the freshwater fish, Anabas testudineus inhabiting a water body contaminated by bleached sulphite pulp mill (Nogaon Paper mill, Assam, India) effluents and also in fish from uncontaminated water exposed to the pulp mill effluents in the aquarium under laboratory condition were found to be adversely affected, as revealed from scanning and transmission electron microscopic studies. The primary and secondary gill lamellae of many of the samples studied were found to have epithelial detachment at places. The chloride cells of the gill exhibited highly irregular shape of nucleus and de-shaping as well as membrane distortion of mitochondria. The muscle showed loss of alignment of fibers, distortion at places and vacuolization. In liver, loss of cellular compartmentalization, increased number of fat bodies, enlargement of the nucleus and reduction of nucleolar size etc. were observed. Liver mitochondria also exhibited distortion of membranes and de-shaping. All these cellular and sub-cellular abnormalities in effluent-exposed fish are discussed with the help of relevant literature.