Fish slowly became lethargic, restless and
secreted excess mucus all over the body.
Intermittently some of the carp were hyper excited
resulting in erratic movements. These behavioural
alterations persisted even during the recovery periods.
An excess secretion of mucus in fish forms a nonspecific
response against toxicants, thereby probably
reducing the toxicant contact. Mucus also forms a
barrier between the body and the toxic medium, to
minimize its irritating effect, or to scavenge it through
epidermal mucus. Rao (2006) made similar
observations following RPR-V (a novel
phosphorothionate insecticide, 2-butenoic acid-3-
[diethoxy phosphinothionyl] ethyl ester) exposure to
euryhaline fish, Oreochromis mossambicus.