Ovarian damage to Channa punctatus after chronic exposure to low concentrations of Elsan, mercury, and ammonia.

Histopathological changes were induced in the ovary by chronic nonlethal levels of Elsan (211 ppb), mercury (16.7 ppb), and ammonia (15.64 ppm). In the breeding season, treated Channa punctatus revealed a significant decrease in ovarian weight throughout the duration of the experiment. Acute changes were noted in the diameter and percentage occurrence of the different stages of oocytes. In all cases, stage I oocytes revealed no difference in diameter with respect to control although they demonstrated an increase in the percentage occurrence. For stages II and III, a remarkable decrease occurred in both the number and the diameter of these mature oocytes. The preponderance of stage I and destruction of stage II and stage III oocytes in all three treatments indicate that chemically diverse xenobiotics have equal reproductive toxicity in fish, interfering with their breeding.