Bioaccumulation and carbohydrate levels in Tilapia zilli exposed to sublethal concentrations of lead and copper

Abstract

Tilapia zilli  is a commonly cultured  fresh water fish and of  major economic importance in tropical and subtropical countries throughout the world, particularly in Africa where farms, stocks mixed- sex tilapia in production ponds. Evaluation of bio accumulation of sub lethal concentrations of copper and lead in  T  zilli  for  a 12-week exposure period was carried out. The elements were assayed using Shimadzu AA 6200 atomic absorption spectrophotometery and the results were given as μg/g dry wt.The bioaccumulation factors of lead and copper had higher significantly(P<0.05) treated values than there control. Effect of these metals on the quantitative   carbohydrate levels in the plasma, muscle and liver were observed.The different concentrations of the various heavy metals significantly(p<0.05) causes corresponding decrease in the fish muscles and liver glycogen levels.