Contents Preface vii 1. Water Pollution: Scopes and Definitions 1 1. Facts about Public Awareness 2. Water Pollution and the Fisheries References 2. Major Industrial and Non-Industrial Water Contaminants 11 1. Industrial Wastes and the Chemicals 2. Metals and Metal Compounds as the Xenobiotics 3. Trace Metals 4. Non-Industrial City Wastes 5. Water Acidification 6. Oil Spills and Oil Residues References 3. Epidemiological Significance of Heavy Metals 29 1. Metal Toxicity in Humans a. Aluminium (Al) b. Arsenic (As) c. Cadmium (Cd) d. Chromium (Cr) e. Copper (Cu) f. Lead (Pb) g. Mercury (Hg) h. Nickel (Ni) i. Zinc (Zn) j. Antimony (Sb) and Barium (Be) References. 4. Heavy Metal Contaminations in River Waters and Sediments 65 1. Metal Contamination in Rivers Waters 2. Metal Accumulation in River Sediments 3. Metal Contamination in Estuaries 4. Metal Contamination in Coastal Waters References 5. Biological Concentration and Metal Availability to Fishes 89 1. Biological Concentration Factor (BCF) 2. Metal Availability and the Water Conditions 3. Metal Absorption 4. Metal Depuration References 6. Metal Uptake and their Distribution in Fish Tissues 115 1. Mercury 2. Arsenic 3. Cadmium 4. Copper 5. Lead 6. Zinc 7. Metal Accumulations and Inter-metallic Interactions 8. Metal Accumulation in other Aquatic Organisms References 7. Health Risks of Heavy Metals in Fishes 153 1. General Metal Toxicity Parameters 2. General Metal Exposures in Fishes i. Mercury ii. Arsenic 3. Cadmium 4. Chromium 5. Copper 6. Lead 7. Zinc 8. Cumulative Metal Effects 9. Metallothionein 3. LC50 Values of Metals for Fishes References. 8. Metal Toxicity Effects on Fish Behavior 181 1. Fish Orientation and Swimming Movements 2. Respiratory Activities and Oxygen Consumption 3. Fish Avoidance to Metals 4. Toxicity Effects on Fish Avoidance to Predators 5. Toxicity Effects on Fish Reproductive Behavior 6. Toxicity Effects on Impulse Transmission References 9. Metal Toxicity and the Tissue Biochemicals 207 1. General Adaptive Syndrome (GAS) 2. General Metabolic Effects 3. Tissue Biochemicals i. Hyper- and Hypoglycemic Fish Responses ii. Proteolysis and Depletion in Tissue Proteins iii. Changes in Cholesterol and other Lipid Levels iv. Metal Effects in Combination 4. Conclusion References. 10. Hematological Aberrations 245 1. Blood Cells and Hemoglobin 2. Anemia and Inhibition of the Enzyme ALAD 3. Changes in Leucocyte Counts 4. Erythrocyte Morphological Anomalies 5. Metal Effects on Oxygen Consumption References 11. Immunological Disorders 275 1. Immune Functions 2. Immunological Observations References 12. Metal Toxicity and the Tissue Enzyme Aberrations 291 1. Digestive Enzymes 2. Metabolic Enzymes i. Dehydrogenases ii. Transaminases iv. Phosphatases References. 13. Synthesis of Stress Proteins and Metallothionein 325 1. Definition and Scope of Stress Proteins 2. Hsp’s Characteristics 3. Environmental Stress and the Hsps 4. Applications of Stress Proteins as Diagnostics 5. Stress70 and cpn60 Family 6. Stress Hormones and the Hsps 7. Activation of Heat Shock Transcription Factor and Hsp Induction 8. Metal Effects in Fishes and the Hsps 9. Metallothionin (MTs) References 14. Oxidative Stress and Arsenic Toxicity 357 1. Oxidative Stress 2. Lipid Peroxidation 3. Antioxidants 4. Oxidative Stress and Fish Protection 5. Reduction-Oxidation (Redox) Sensitive Transcriptions and Gene Expression 6. Arsenic Toxicity and Oxygen Stress 7. Methylation and Metabolism of Arsenic 8. Protection against Arsenic Toxicity References Index 387 This book provides glimpses into the recent ‘Mechanisms of toxicity in fishes’ and it is first such holistic and explicable attempt, incorporating a comprehensive update account of the heavy metals as water pollutants and almost every essential fundamental aspect about their chronic toxicity in fishes. The book has 2 parts and each is well defined to its contents in total 14 chapters, such as ‘Scope of water pollution and the important definitions; Industrial and non-industrial water pollutants; Metal epidemiology; Occurrence of heavy metals in water bodies; Metal uptake and their accumulation in fish tissues; Health risks of metals in fishes; Symptomatic morphological and behavioral aberrations; Metal induced biochemical changes in fish tissues; Hematological and Immunological alterations; Enzymatic alterations; Stress proteins and a specific chapter on ‘The Oxidative stress and the Arsenic toxicity’. This book will essentially be of much importance to the fish scientists, ecologists, and the agricultural scientists working in various state universities and ICAR institutes.