Impact of heavy metals on thread fin cat fish (ariusarius) in the mouth of haldi river of West Bengal, India

The concentration of heavy metals such as zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in water sample and different body parts of thread fin cat fish such as muscle, gill and liver were analyzed. There was considerable increase of metal concentration in sample water collected from mouth of Haldi River. The descending order of heavy metal concentrations in sample water was Pb>Cu>Zn>Cd. The concentration of lead was4.172µg/L followed by copper 3.102µg/L, zinc 1.079µg/L and that of cadmium was 0.050µg/L. The accumulation of heavy metals in different body parts of thread fin cat fish is i) Muscle: lead- 6.39µg/g, copper- 3.81µg/g, zinc- 10.19µg/g and cadmium- 0.54µg/g ii) Gill: lead- 8.09µg/g, copper- 1.56µg/g, zinc -22.48µg/g and cadmium- 0.50µg/g iii) Liver: lead- 5.22µg/g, copper- 1.01µg/g, zinc- 4.63µg/g and cadmium- 0.61µg/g. In the gills, zinc concentration was found maximum but cadmium was minimum. In the muscles, the maximum values of zinc was observed as compared to the values of cadmium. The concentration of lead in liver was higher as compared to cadmium. The concentration of heavy metals in gills and muscles was found in the order of Zn >Pd> Cu > Cdand in the livers was Pb> Cu > Zn> Cd. In this study, gills and body muscles shows highest tendency to accumulate both zinc and copper, while accumulation of metals is less in livers. As the fish thread fin cat fish largely consumed by local people, it is essential to make awareness about water pollution and effects of heavy metals on human beings.