A lethal dose toxicity experiment was set up to determine the salinity level which could kill half of the freshwater drum under different salinities of (0 mg/L, 5000 mg/L, 7500 mg/L, 10000 mg/L, 12500 mg/L, 15000 mg/L, 17500 mg/L, 20000 mg/L, 25000 mg/L). It was then observed that the freshwater drum swarm normally and survived up to a salinity level of 15000 mg/L with death occurring in a dose dependent manner. Based on the knowledge obtained from the lethal toxicity experiment, an acute salinity experiment was piloted to ascertain the effect of varying salinity levels of (0 mg/L, 7500mg/L and 15000mg/L) on biochemical, antioxidant, and digestive pepsin activities in the juvenile freshwater drum (A. grunniens). During the experiment, 15 fish with an initial weight of 46.5 ± 0.05 were cultured in plastic tanks (140L) in three (3) replicates across the different salinity levels and at different sampling points of 0, 4, 12, 24, 48 and 96 hours. In the experimentation, Alanine transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate transaminase (AST) activities were significantly affected at different salinity levels and time points (P < 0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) were observed to be significantly affected in their activities in the different salinity levels and time. The digestive pepsin activities detected in the juvenile (A. grunniens) exhibited significant differences across the different salinity levels and time (P < 0.05). The results revealed that no severe damage were observed in the fish organs across the different salinity levels and sampling time and as such the juveniles can survive and swim normally up to a salinity level of 15000mg/L. However further experiment should be undertaken for longer periods.
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