Summary
Three instances of heavy fish mortality in the Virudhunagar quarry fish farm in Madras State are described. Oxygen depletion in the waters, especially during night and early morning hours, has been found to be responsible for the mortality in all of them. The oxygen deficiency in each case was traced to an excessive growth of green micro- and macro-vegetation which disturbed the biological balance, normally controlled by photosynthesis, respiration and bacterial decomposition. The deprivation of dissolved nutrients for the plants owing to the thermal stratification and absence of turnover in the fish farm was responsible for the death of the plants, the decay of which also contributed to a faster depletion of oxygen. The recurrence of such disasters to fish in farms can often be prevented by controlling the growth of micro- and macro-vegetation.
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Communicated by Dr. H. Srinivasa Rao
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Chacko, P.I., Srinivasan, R. Fish mortality in the rock pools of a quarry near Virudhunagar (Ramanathapuram District), Madras. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 39, 91–99 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03050389
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03050389