ALTERATIONS IN FISH GILL PROFILE AFTER SUB LETHAL LEAD EXPOSURE: A SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY.

Contamination of fresh water ecosystems with a number of heavy metals affects the ecosystems integrity and induces serious ecological consequences. Serious damage to aquaculture species such as fish is due to purely toxic, widely used heavy metals like lead and mercury. The present study has been undertaken to explore the toxic effects of lead on gill of fish Cirrhinus mrigala and to detect the spectral and surface morphological changes in it. The biochemical changes after chronic lead exposure are studied by currently used methods of monitoring animal tissue and their components like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Optical absorbance. The surface morphology of gill is studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The present study provides a better understanding of metal toxicity on the alterations at cellular level after chronic exposure to lead.