Assessment of Micronucleation and Nuclear Abnormalities in Deformed Heteropneustes fossilis Fish: Implications for Genotoxicity and Environmental Health

Utpal Chakraborty, Soumendra Nath Talapatra, Tapan Kumar Chatterjee

Abstract: The objective of the present study was to detect the frequency of micronucleation and nuclear abnormalities in peripheral erythrocytes of deformed fish (Heteropneustes fossilis Bloch) collected from the market of West Bengal. As per visual observation of abnormal shape of fish specimens, the samples were collected. The morphological parameters viz. head length (HL), head width (HW), body length (BL), body width central position (BW), caudal fin length (CFL) and caudal fin width (CFW) were measured manually. The micronucleation (MN) and nuclear abnormalities (NAs) tests was performed in the peripheral erythrocytes under bright field microscope (400X magnification). The present result indicates an alarming risk of genotoxicity due to the formation of MN and NAs such as blebbed nuclei (BLN), notched nuclei (NN), vacuolated cytoplasm (VC), fragmented nuclei (FN), nuclear cariolysis (NC), dumble shaped nuclei (DSN), retracted nuclei (RN) and binuclei (BN) in the peripheral erythrocytes of deformed fish specimens. It is suggested in future investigation to know the cause of deformities and nuclear abnormalities as per the accumulation study of heavy metals and/or organic compounds.

Keywords: Deformed fish, Environmental factors, Freshwater fish, Market fish, Heteropneustes fossilis, Abnormal nucleation