Histo-architectural changes in the selected tissues of Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) juveniles reared in Inland Ground Saline Water (IGSW) fed with graded + levels of potassium (K ) and magnesium( 2 + ) (Mg through feed).

Abstract

Litopenaeus vannamei, is an ideal animal for studying the histological alterations caused by the exposure of different dietary levels of K+ Mg2+ in two types of waters namely raw IGSW and 100% K+ Mg2+ fortified IGSW at par with sea water at constant salinity of 10 ppt. Experiment was conducted for a period of 60 days. Three diets were formulated using commercial shrimp feed with varied K+ and Mg2+ levels (K+ = 5 g/kg, Mg2+ = 150 mg/kg; K + = 10 g/kg, Mg2+= 300 mg/kg; K+ = 15g/kg, Mg2+ = 450 mg/kg) and the same commercial feed as control diet. Histological alterations were observed such as loss of Rcells, B-cells and tubular structural damages of hepatopancreas in shrimps reared in raw IGSW. The potassium through feed helped in the maintenance of cellular structure of gills. In the first, second and third abdominal segments of the gut, increase in the height of epithelial cells was observed in shrimps grown in raw IGSW. On the intervention of potassium in the water, the histological architecture best recovered in treatments. However, the study indicated that histological structures are shown superior in the fortified water with fortified feed.