Response of a freshwater air-breathing fish, Clarias batrachus to salinity stress: an experimental case for their farming in brackishwater areas in Andaman, India

The study was conducted to assess the effects of salinity on growth and biochemical composition of freshwater catfish, Clarias batrachus. A static nonrenewable acute toxicity bioassay test was conducted and LC₅₀ of salinity for 96-h exposure to the fingerling (14.5 cm) was 12.52 ‰. Based on these results, two sublethal salinity levels, viz. 4 and 8 ‰ were selected to study the long-term effects of salinity on C. batrachus for a period of 90 days. From the study, it was found that growth and survival rate were less in saline water (4 and 8 ‰). Maximum growth and survival were recorded in freshwater (0 ‰ salinity) and subsequently at 4 and 8 ‰. To assess the biochemical alteration, few important biomarkers were estimated. At the end of 90 days rearing period, glucose level in the brain and blood of C. batrachus was found to decrease with salinity. The level of liver and muscle glycogen in the fish reared at 4 ‰ was lower than that of control. Ascorbic acid in all organs under study was found to decrease with increasing salinity, which was attributed to stress mitigation effect of vitamin C. Acetylcholine esterase (AchE) activity recorded a gradual decrease with increasing salinity. Metabolic enzymes, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and adenosine triphosphosphtase (ATPase) activity also reduced both in liver and muscle tissues with increasing salinity. From the present investigation, it can be concluded that exposure to higher salinity significantly (P < 0.01) affects the growth and physiological response of Clarias batrachus.     

Modeling of abrasion resistance of Persian handmade wool carpets using response surface methodology

The effect of knot density, pile height, number of ply in pile yarn and pile yarn twist on abrasion resistance of Persian handmade wool carpets has been studied. The interaction between the process variables has been analyzed by using response surface methodology based on the Box-Behnken design of experiment. Knot density, pile height, interactions between knot density and pile height; pile height and pile yarn twist; as well as squares of the knot density, pile height and number of ply in pile yarn are significant process variables. The minimum abrasion loss occurs at the combination(s) of medium values of knot density (six knots per inch) and number of ply in pile yarn (three ply) as well as lower values of pile height (ten mm) and pile yarn twist (three and a half twists per inch).     

An assessment of heterozygosity and fitness in Chir pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus roxburghii</Emphasis> Sarg.) using isozymes

A correlation between heterozygosity of genotypes and survival (fitness) was studied in eight natural populations of Pinus roxburghii through isozyme analysis using horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. Under each population, 20 mother trees of different ages (30 to more than 100 years) were selected which were at least 50 m apart. From each tree, eight seeds were assayed for eleven enzyme systems viz., Aconitase, Aspertate aminotransferase, Glutamate dehydrogenase, Isocitrate dehydrogenase, Leucine-amino peptidase, Malate dehydrogenase, Menadione reductase, Phosphoglucose isomerase, Phosphoglucomutase, 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and Shikimic acid dehdrogenase which were found to be encoded by 18 polymorphic loci. Genetic constitution of the mother trees was determined by analysing endosperms and embryos separately. The number of alleles in the progeny (embryos) and the mother trees varied from 38 to 42 and 34 to 37, respectively, in all the populations. Distribution of degree of heterozygosity and fixation index for the progeny and the mother trees were calculated. The mother trees showed a substantial shift towards higher degree of heterozygosity as compared to the progeny. Fixation index values were significantly higher and negative for the mother trees as compared to the progeny, which revealed that heterozygosity was positively correlated with survival in P. roxburghii. Application: Heterozygous geneotypes in tree species are shown to have better survival over homozygotes under diverse environmental conditions. Every year, millions of Pinus roxburghii saplings are planted in India. However, the fact that survival is very low might possibly be due to inbred/homozygous plants that suffer from fitness disadvantage. Our study indicates that heterozygotes have a better chance of survival under environmental conditions. The use of heterozygotes should lead to effective establishments of Pinus roxburghii plantations.     

Do socio-psychological factors matter in agroforestry planning? Lessons from smallholder traditional agroforestry systems

Most of the well planned rural development forestry programs of the 1970s, and agroforestry in particular, were either not adopted by the intended beneficiaries or failed to meet the needs and aspirations of the rural people, particularly in the developing countries. The reasons for non-adoption in some cases appear to be technical, bio-physical, social and economic (termed as rational reasons by the planners), but in other situations the reasons are not so easily recognisable and comprehended (termed irrational reasons). These irrational reasons are the perceptions and attitude of the farmer towards farm practices, and their role in agroforestry planning has remained almost completely neglected. The present study is based on a household survey of the farmers in traditional agroforestry systems of Western Himalaya and investigates the importance of perceptional and attitudinal aspects of the farmers with regard to agroforestry adoption and extension. In the present study, farmers’ perceptions of restrictions on felling of trees from their own land and attitudes towards agroforestry were the most important sociopsychological factors which influenced tree growing. This study implies a need to take into account the socio-psychological factors of the farmers for planning socially acceptable agroforestry programs. The importance of study of various de jure rules and regulations controlling the use of on-farm tree resources and related exemptions and their association with farmers’ perceptions and tree growing is highlighted to develop policies to encourage tree growing in agroforestry.     

Is it possible to successfully rear meagre (Argyrosomus regius Asso 1801) larvae without using rotifers?

In hatcheries, meagre Argyrosomus regius larvae still depend on an adequate supply of rotifers and Artemia, as no artificial diet can totally fulfil their nutritional requirements. However, production of live feed is highly expensive and demands intensive labour and specific facilities. This study investigated the effect of a dietary regime without the use of rotifers, to simplify the meagre larval rearing protocol. Two feeding treatments (T₁ & T₂) are compared to investigate their effects on survival and growth of meagre larvae. In T₁, larvae were fed rotifers from 2 to 5 days post hatch (dph), and Artemia from 4 to 15 dph. In T_2, larvae were kept under dark conditions and fed Artemia from 6 to 15 dph. Standard larval length (SL) was significantly higher in T₁ (p < .01) until 8 dph in comparison with larvae reared initially without rotifers. No significant difference in SL was found among treatments (p = .187) at 15 dph. Significant difference was found among treatments in survival rate at 15 dph (p < .003). The survival rate observed at 15 dph in T₂ (30 ± 4.2%) represents an important finding, although the highest survival rate was observed in T₁ (45.0 ± 3.4%). This study showed that it is possible to conduct larval rearing of meagre without using rotifers. Nevertheless, further research efforts are still needed to improve these results in comparison with the common larval rearing protocol.     

Implications of Indian Foresters’ Perspectives of Joint Forest Management

A study was conducted in Kullu district in the province of Himachal Pradesh in Indian Western Himalaya, to investigate the perceptions of Indian foresters about aspects of forest management relevant for effective Joint Forest Management (JFM). A lack of uniform understanding was found amongst forestry staff about almost all the studied issues pertaining to JFM. A need is identified to emphasise social aspects in the training of the foresters (including in-service training), along with the existing silvi-technical aspects. For JFM success, measures need to be devised to reduce the political interference in JFM, reduce hierarchical rigidity, and increase interaction between field staff and the administrative hierarchy. Strategies should be devised to make JFM participants as well as forestry staff equally responsible to honour their commitments with respect to JFM.

Secondary stress responses in Indian major carps Labeo rohita (Hamilton), Catla catla (Hamilton) and Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) fry to increasing packing densities

Glycogen content and metabolic enzyme activities viz. lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), aspartate amino transferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT) in Indian major carps, Labeo rohita, Catla catla and Cirrhinus mrigala, were investigated after a 6 h transportation trial to compare the species‐specific variation and the effect of increased packing density on the metabolism. Fish (45±5 mm, 0.5±0.1 g) were packed in three densities (100, 150 and 200 L^?1) for the experiment, and 12 specimens of each species were randomly sampled from all the treatments at the end of transportation. The glycogen content of L. rohita ingerlings decreased significantly (P<0.05) with increasing packing density. The activities of enzymes LDH, MDH, AST and ALT showed a rising trend with increasing packing density in all the three species. Species‐specific differences were observed in various tested parameters at the lowest packing density (100 fry L^?1). Alanine amino transferase and LDH activities were significantly (P<0.05) lower in C. mrigala as compared with the other two species. However, glycogen reserves and MDH activity were not significantly different (P>0.05) among the species. The present study reveals that the optimum packing density for Indian major carp fry (100 fry L^?1) for transportation up to 6 h and metabolic regimes are species specific during transportation.     

Antibacterial activity of oxytetracycline on microbial ecology of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) gastrointestinal tract under laboratory condition

The antibacterial effect of oxytetracycline (OTC) on bacterial load, pathogen and possible development of antibiotic resistance in intestinal flora of apparently healthy Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was investigated under laboratory condition. OTC, a broad spectrum approved antibiotic widely used in aquaculture, was fed to Nile tilapia through medicated diet at a rate of 2 g/ kg of feed for consecutive 7 days in treatment 1 (T₁) and 30 days in treatment 2 (T₂). Changes in physico‐chemical parameters of water were also recorded where pH and dissolved oxygen influenced bacterial load and coliform count respectively. At the start of the experiment, initial bacterial load in fish intestine was 1.61 ± 2.25 × 10¹⁰ cfu/g, which after OTC treatment decreased significantly (p < .05) to 3.06 ± 2.08 × 10⁸ cfu/g on day 7 and 3.45 ± 4.46 × 10⁷ cfu/g on day 30 when compared with the control group. Among the 10 bacterial genera identified in the intestine, 4 potential public health concern bacteria viz., Salmonella, Escherichia, Enterobacter and Staphylococcaus were predominant. There was a sharp increase in bacterial load on day 18 in T₂ that may be attributed to the development of antibiotic resistance in intestinal bacteria. Antibiotic susceptibility test for isolates against seven antibiotics: amoxycillin, ciprofloxacin, co‐trimoxazole, erythromycin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin and tetracycline using disc diffusion method revealed significantly increased resistance of Gram‐negative rods (p < .05) that possibly caused increased frequency of OTC‐resistant microorganisms. In conclusion, short‐ and long‐term exposure to OTC treatment affected the distribution of bacterial genera including pathogens in the Nile tilapia gastrointestinal tract and concomitantly influenced their antimicrobial resistance.     

Growth and digestive enzymes of Macrobrachium rosenbergii juveniles: effect of different stocktypes and dietary protein levels under a similar culture environment

A feeding trial was conducted to study the effect of dietary protein (DP) levels on the growth and digestive enzyme activities of different wild stocks of Macrobrachium rosenbergii juveniles. Wild juveniles of M. rosenbergii were collected from the west coast of India, Gujarat (G), Maharashtra (M) and from the east coast of India, Andhra Pradesh (A), and raised in culture ponds of 200 m² at 1 juvenile m^?2. All the animals were tagged individually with Elastomer tags of a particular colour assigned to their respective stock and acclimatized for 7 days before being released into the pond at a ratio of 70:65:65 (A:M:G). Each of the two feeds, the first with 27% DP, termed the suboptimum level (S), and the second 32% DP, termed the optimum level (O), was fed in duplicate ponds at 6% of the body mass for the first 30 days and 4% for the last 30 days. The average weight of stocked prawn, respectively, in O DP and S DP fed ponds was 0.90 ± 0.04 and 1.06 ± 0.08 g for the G stock, 0.80 ± 0.07 and 1.01 ± 0.1 g for the M stock and 3.06 ± 0.13 and 3.10 ± 0.23 g for the A stock. Both the protein level and the stock type had a significant (P<0.05) effect on the weight gain% of the prawn. There was an approximate 95% change in weight gain with a DP change. Similarly, G and M stocks exhibited significantly higher (P<0.05) growth rates of approximately 90% than the A stock, although no difference was noted between the G and the M stocks. However, for protein × stock (interaction) levels, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) among the groups. Although insignificant, the survival rates among the different stocks varied from 56% to 77%. Optimum protein level showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in the specific growth rate (SGR). Feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio and net protein utilization were not affected either due to DP, stock type or their interaction. The O × A group exhibited the maximum variation in body weight. Digestive enzyme activities were similar in all the groups, but enzymes for phospho‐monoesterase were significantly higher (P<0.05) at O DP. Both the G and the M stock showed a significantly higher (P<0.05) alkaline phosphatase activity while acid phosphatase activity was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the M stock only. Overall, the G and M stocks showed higher growth responses compared with the A stock.     

Histomorphological,ultrastructural and morphometrical age-related changes of fundic region of New Zealand rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

This study investigated the histomorphological, ultrastructural and morphometrical postnatal developmental changes in the rabbit fundic region, especially during changing of the feeding intake. Seventy-two New Zealand rabbits (V-Line breed) at the ages of 1, 7, 15, 23, 30 and 60 days were obtained for light and electron microscopy and morphometric studies of the fundic region. The newborn rabbit's fundic wall was thin and organized into mucosa, submucosa, musclosa and serosa, with a significant increase in thickness with ageing. The fundic glands were few at the first week of life, then increased in length and diameter compared to the preceding age with prominent zonation at 23 days. The gastric pits appeared wide and deep at the first week of life then became typically narrow and shallow at the third week. The mucous cells were the main cell types lining the fundic glands in the first week of life. These cells showed remoulding with a marked increase in Periodic Acid–Schiff reactivity with age. Parietal cells were differentiated earlier (on the first day of life) than the chief cells and distributed at the neck and basal zones. Chief cells differentiated at 15 days old at the base of the glands, followed by an increase in the number and activity. Few active enteroendocrine cells were first seen at 15 days old and then widely distributed throughout the glands. Conclusion: Pronounced histomorphological changes in the fundic mucosal layer, especially the surface and glandular epithelium, correlate with the postnatal rabbit-feeding intake changes.