Biochemical changes in tissues of crab <i style="">Sesarma quadratum</i> (Decapoda) exposed to CuCl₂

Abstract

Crabs of the species <i style="">Sesarma quadratum</i> were exposed to two sublethal concentrations of CuCl₂ (2.8 and 9.3 ppm) for 21 days. Suitable control experiments were maintained. Sample tissues were taken from the muscle, gills and hepatopancreas of crabs of both test and control groups after an exposure to CuCl₂ for 1, 7, 14 and 21 days. The levels of protein, amino acids, lipids, free sugar and protein bound sugar were found to be lower in comparison with control crabs, in the case of muscle, gills and hepatopancreas of test crabs, especially those exposed to 9.3 ppm of sublethal concentration of CuCl₂. However, present data strongly suggest that CuCl₂ is toxic to <i style="">Sesarma quadratum</i> resulting in alterations in major biochemical constituents of all tissues.