EFFECT OF AZARDIRACHTA INDICA LEAF EXTRACT ON GILL OF FRESHWATER FISH, LABEO ROHITA

Abstract

An investigation on the toxicity of  biopesticidal plant  Azardiracta indica aqueous leaf extracts to Labeo rohita. The LC50 value of Azardiracta indica aqueous leaf extracts was 1.1ml/lit respectively. The sub lethal concentration for Azardiracta indica was 0.11ml/lit and 0.33 ml/lit respectively. The fishes were exposed to the sub lethal concentration for a period of 15 days.  At the end of 15th day the fishes were dissected and the gill were removed from exposed and control group fishes. The tissues were processed and sectioned at 4µm and then were stained with Haematoxylin- Eosin. The observation of the slides was done under light microscope at 40x magnification and photographed. The exposed group showed histopathological changes in the tissues, such as: shrunken and narrow secondary gill lamellae, mild to moderate infiltration of inflammatory cells in the primary and secondary gill lamellae.  This result indicated that the aqueous extract of Azardiracta indica has considerable impact on the respiratory organ of fresh water fish, Labeo rohita. Key words: Labeo rohita, Azardiracta indica, secondary lamellae