In this study, we document an increasing trend of catches of alien fish species from the Ganga River system. The changing fishery during 1980 to 2011 and the fish yield rate (kg km −1 ) are positively correlated with an invasion coefficient index (I xi ) of alien species within the river. The reproductive propagule pressure (PPP) of alien fishes (Cyprinus carpio, Oreochromis niloticus, Aristichthys nobilis, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Clarias gariepinus) was determined and found to be 19.45×10 6 for C. carpio, 0.33×10 6 for O. niloticus and 0.82×10 6 for A. nobilis at confluences suggesting that these alien species may be migrating into new habitats. Further, these invaded species exhibited all reproductive stages, indicating their likely establishment within the river. The trophic spectrum of alien fishes spanned all levels and the gut repetitive index (GRI) indicated that that food items in most of the fishes were similar showing early trends of food-web alteration and biotic homogenization. The results of this study suggested a continuous decline in the catch of local fishes by wet weight, particularly Indian major carps (IMC) from 128.91 kg km −1 to 38.58 kg km −1 owing to increased catches of alien species from nil to 384.27 kg km −1 . Invasion of alien species in the Ganga River represented one of many possible causes of the decline in river health and overall loss of native aquatic communities.

No abstract

Laying hens continue to improve in egg production (EP) and feed efficiency (FE), and therefore, it is relevant to re-examine their digestible balanced protein (BP) requirements. From 27 to 66 wk of age, hens (Lohmann-LSL Lite) were fed diets designed to provide 550, 625, 700, 775, or 850 mg hen −1 d −1 of amino acid balanced digestible lysine (Dlys). Response criteria included EP, egg weight (EW), feed intake (FI), mortality, egg mass (EM), egg size classifications, FE (kg feed kg −1 EM), and lysine efficiency (LE; mg Dlys g −1 EM). The experiment was a completely randomized design, and data were analyzed using regression analysis. Differences were considered significant if P ≤ 0.05. Hen-day (HD) EP, EW, EM, FI, and LE increased and FE and mortality decreased in a quadratic fashion with increasing Dlys intake, while the proportion of cracked eggs increased linearly. Egg size classifications increased linearly (jumbo, extra-large) and quadratically (large) or decreased in a quadratic manner (medium, small) with increasing Dlys intake. Maximum HDEP, EW, and EM, and minimum FE were achieved at 769, 903, 836, and 839 mg hen −1 d −1 intake of Dlys, respectively. In conclusion, the digestible BP requirement of laying hens varies with response criteria.

No abstract

Water quality monitoring of Clarias gariepinus culture ponds (n = 27) revealed poor physico-chemical conditions and metal contaminants in fish tissues (n = 324). Human health risk assessment for some heavy metal contamination delineated low risk in general except for Aluminium (Al), Iron (Fe) and Lead (Pb) which accumulated significantly (p < 0.05) high in tissues. Health risks values were 6.3 × 10(-3)-9.6 × 10(-3) for Al; 3 × 10(-3)-9.7 × 10(-3) for Fe and 1.15 × 10(-5)-9.3 × 10(-6) for Pb respectively suggesting that contamination of Pb particularly in ponds fed with chicken waste (CW) was posing high risks.

Ideally balanced dietary protein is critical for laying hen egg production and feed efficiency, but also affects other important characteristics. This research was designed to study the nonegg production and feed intake response of Lohmann-LSL Lite hens to 550, 625, 700, 775, and 850 mg d−1 of amino acid balanced digestible lysine (Dlys) from 27 to 66 wk of age. Data collection included hen weight (HW), feather scoring, tissue weights, egg specific gravity, egg component weights, and excreta nitrogen (N) content. The experiment was a completely randomized design and level of significance was fixed at P ≤ 0.05. Hen weight (quadratic, Q), pectoralis muscle (absolute, % – Q), and abdominal fat (absolute – linear, L; % – Q) increased with increasing Dlys intake. Although gastrointestinal segment weights and lengths were affected by Dlys intake, interpretation of results was confounded by other aspects of diet composition. Hen feather score (L) and excreta N content (Q) increased, and egg shell quality (L) decreased with increasing Dlys intake. Absolute egg component weights increased with Dlys intake, but effects on proportional weights were Q and relatively minor. In conclusion, balanced Dlys intake affected a variety of practical nonproduction characteristics in laying hens.

Tubifix, Chiranomus, Beef liver, mosquito larvae and plankton used as feed were tested as diets in the early larval growth of Channa striatus fry over a 45 days period. Among all the food types Chironomus was found to produce the best growth results followed by tubifix, while other food types yielded poor results.

A trial was conducted to evaluate the requirement of digestible lysine at various protein levels in the diet of WLH layers (BV-300) from 25-44 weeks of age. Layers (528) were fed with diets containing two protein levels i.e. 13.36 and 15.78 % each with 5 % concentration variations of lysine (0.50, 0.55, 0.60, 0.65, and 0.70) and a control with 17 % CP and 0.70 % lysine. Each diet was fed to six replicates of eight birds. Egg production, feed intake, body weight were not influenced either by the concentration of lysine or by level of protein in diet. Increased (P d" 0.05) egg weight and egg mass were observed with increasing lysine in diets. Better feed efficiency was observed with increasing lysine concentration. It can be concluded that WLH layers require approximately 0.65% lysine with 13.36% CP or 0.63% lysine with 15.78% CP (i.e. 598.80 vs 570 mg/h/day) in diet.