A Study on Oxygen Consumption in a Freshwater Fish Cyprinus carpio Exposed to Lethal and Sublethal Concentrations of Cypermethrin (25%Ec)

Any alteration in fish physiology indicates the deterioration of water quality parameters, since fish are one of the biological indicators of water quality. The recent development of biomarkers based on the study of the response of organisms to toxic chemicals has provided essential tools for the implementation of environment contamination monitoring programmes (Korami et al., 2000). Toxicants in the environment mainly enter into fish by means of their respiratory system. Respiratory activity of a fish is often the first physiological response to be affected by the presence of toxic pollutants in the aquatic media. These responses were found to be less sensitive, but could be used successfully in environmental monitoring. A change in respiration rate is one of the common physiological responses to toxicants and is easily detectable through changes in oxygen consumption rate, which is frequently used to evaluate the changes in metabolism under environmental deterioration.