Cirrhinus mrigala commonly called as Mrigal, is a specie of freshwater fish found in rivers, lakes, ponds and South Asia including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is an important food fish. The fish has streamlined body with a silver grey coloration and a deeply forked tail.
2. Topic: Cirrhinus mrigala
Department of Zoology
Presented By: Shamza Shahid
Roll no# 20M-UOC/ZOL-42
BS Zoology
Session: 2020-2024
Subject: Ichthyology
Instructor Name: Dr. Syeda Nadia Ahmad
3. INTRODUCTION
• Cirrhinus mrigala is a freshwater fish.
• It is commonly known as Mrigal or Nain
• One of the most common Indian major carp.
• Mostly they are found in rivers, lakes and ponds.
• It is a bottom feeder.
• One of the important fish for polyculture (Ghayur et al., 2021).
4. Distribution
It is distributed in Indo- Pak subcontinent.
In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Figure: Cirrrhinus mrigala (https://images.app.goo.gl/nKJ8B3MYJLshb32W9).
6. General Characteristics
• Body Shape: Bilaterally symmetrical and streamlined body.
• Mouth Shape: Broad and transverse mouth
• Tail: Forked tail.
• Fins: Dorsal, pectoral, pelvic, anal and caudal.
• Type Of Scales: Cycloid scales ( Negi et al., 2020).
7. Meristic Characteristics
• Feeder: Bottom feeders.
• Migrate: Potamodromous fish.
• Fin Formula: Dorsal fin rays: 15-16
Pectoral fin rays: 15-16
Pelvic fin rays: 8-9
Anal fin rays: 6-8
Caudal fin rays: 17-20
• Lateral line scales: 42-44 ( Negi et al., 2020).
8. Morphology
• Bilaterally symmetrical and streamlined body.
• Covered by cycloid scales except on head.
• The number of scales along lateral line is about 42 to 44.
• The body is dark grey or silver on top with a lighter.
• Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins may have black tinges and dorsal fins
are greyish.
• It can range in size from 17-99cm ( Muhammad et al., 2018).
10. Behaviors
• Considered as potamodromous, not to be a highly migratory species.
• Their migration also occurs because of feeding and spawning
processes.
• As they release their egg and sperm into the water outside.
• So there’s no significant parental behavior in these fishes because of
external fertilization.
• The breeding take place in rainy season at the place where water depth
is about 0.5-1.0m ( Muhammad et al., 2018).
11. • When Cirrhinus mrigala was exposed to dyeing industrial effluent
they got some behavioral and morphological changes.
• The study was held by taking 3 different concentrations (24.48%,
12.24% and 6.12%).
• The behavioral changes are like erratic movements, hitting against
the wall, restlessness and sluggishness etc (Kaur et al., 2013).
Behavioral and Morphological
changes
12. • There are also some morphological changes like loosening of
scales, redness in eyes, bleeding from gills, pigmented patches on
abdomen was observed.
• These all changes are much more at higher concentrations of these
effluents.
• This study reveal that the exposure to dyeing industry effluents is
highly toxic to fish species ( Kaur et al., 2013).
Continued…….
14. Interesting facts
• The meat of this fish is used to reduce weight and also enhance
the sexual power.
• The brain of this fish is used to enhance memory.
• The oil is used against the cold.
• The fish meat is also used as food by people (Muhammad et al.,
2018).
16. Effects of Different Pesticides
• The study was designed to check the effects of pesticides like
Chlorfenapyr, Dimethoate and Acetamiprid on health of Cirrhinus
mrigala.
• The eighty species are taken and divided into four groups; one is
control group and other three are experimental group.
• The blood were taken from all these groups at the interval of 10th,
20th and 30th days (Ghayyur et al., 2021).
17. Continued……
• Because of these pesticides the level of T3 and T4 decreases in the
fish.
• The histopathological analysis of gills and liver also show some
sort of alterations.
• Hence, it is concluded that these kind of pesticides may harm the
ecosystem and also have a negative effect on fish body (Ghayyur
et al., 2021).
18. Artificial Gynogenesis
• Artificial gynogenesis is a method for accelerating selective
breeding.
• The ultraviolet-irradiated sperm of common carp (Cyprinus
carpio) was used to activate mature eggs of mrigal carp (Cirrhinus
mrigala).
• The results showed that tis method improve cold tolerance in
mrigal carp (Li et al., 2023).
19. Importance
• Food Source:
Mrigal carp is a popular food fish in South Asia, prized for its high-
quality, flaky flesh.
• Aquaculture:
Mrigal is a key player in aquaculture, particularly in polyculture systems
alongside other Indian major carps like rohu and catla.
• They can withstand a wide range of experimental conditions.
• They are an important factor of polyculture and sewage fed carp culture
system in India (Ramesh et al., 2021).
20. References
Ghayyur, S., Khan, M. F., Tabassum, S., Ahmad, M. S., Sajid, M., Badshah, K., … & Qamer, S.
(2021). A comparative study on the effects of selected pesticides on hemato-biochemistry and
tissue histology of freshwater fish Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822). Saudi Journal of Biological
Sciences, 28(1), 603-611
Li, W., Zhou, Z., Tian, X., Li, H., Su, J., Liu, Q., ... & Liu, S. (2023). Gynogenetic Cirrhinus
mrigala produced using irradiated sperm of Cyprinus carpio exhibit better cold
tolerance. Reproductionand Breeding, 3(1), 8-16.
Muhammad, N., Umair, M., Khan, A. M., Yaqoob, M., Haider, M. S., Khan, Q., & Abbasi, A. R.
(2018). Assessment of cultural uses of Mrigal carp (Cirrhinusmrigala) in Gujranwala division,
Pakistan. Journal of Wildlife and Ecology, 2(1), 1-9.
Ramesh, M., Sujitha, M., Anila, P. A., Ren, Z., & Poopal, R. K. (2021). Responses of Cirrhinus
mrigala to second‐generation fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin) toxicity: Assessment of antioxidants,
tissue morphology, and inorganic ions. Environmental Toxicology, 36(5), 887-902.
