Acute Toxicity Bioassay and Behavioural Responses Induced by Copper Sulphate in Freshwater Fish Rasbora Daniconius

The active substance of Copper Sulphate is highly toxic and also damaging to a multitude of non target species. The fishes have been used for many years to determine the pollution status of water. Static bioassays were performed on fish, Rasbora daniconius to evaluate the median lethal concentrations of Copper Sulphate for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hrs. The LC50 values were 0.74 ppm, 0.66 ppm, 0.53 ppm and 0.44 ppm respectively. The results show that the LC50 values decreased with increase in exposure period. At this concentration, erratic swimming, jerky movement, thick mucous covering over the whole body surface and rapid opercular movement leaping out of water were observed during experiments.