Ilham Zulfahmi, Agung Setia Batubara, Adli Waliul Perdana, Ade Putri Andalia, Dian Nuzulli, Muslich Hidayat, Firman M. Nur, Kizar Ahmed Sumon, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman
To date, several harmful effects of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) have been reported on aquatic organisms, including fish. However, the turbidity effects of POME on the feeding ability of fish are still unexplored. We first assessed the turbidity effects of POME on the feeding ability of male siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). Siamese fighting fish were exposed to < 1 NTU (control) and five concentrations of POME turbidity levels, namely 20 NTU (Treatment A), 40 NTU (Treatment B), 60 NTU (Treatment C), 80 NTU (Treatment D), and 100 NTU (Treatment E). Each of the control and treatment groups was maintained in five replicates. Preference tests were carried out in a 10-L aquarium (35 ×21×25 cm3). The feeding rate, time to capture first prey, aggressive behaviour, foraging area, and retinal light adaptation rate and retina histopathology were analyzed. The exposure time for the determination of feeding rate, foraging area, and retinal light adaptation rate and retina histopathology was set for 15 min, while for aggressive behaviour test, the exposure duration was 5 min. Results showed that the feeding rate, aggressive behaviour and foraging area significantly decreased with increasing turbidity levels of POME. In contrast, the time to capture first prey significantly increased. No significant changes in retinal light adaptation rate was recorded between treatments. Furthermore, results showed several retinal degenerations, including reduced granular spherical cells (GL) and detachment of bipolar cells from photoreceptor cells (DBPC) in siamese fighting fish exposed to high-level turbidity of POME. This study provides valuable information to support POME remediation management, especially turbidity parameters. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Department of Fisheries Resources Utilization, Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Medan, Sumatera Utara, Kota Medan, 20221, Indonesia; Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Center for Aquatic Research and Conservation (CARC), Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Research center for Biosystematics and Evolution – BRIN, Cibinong Science Center, Jl. Raya Jakarta Bogor Km.46, Cibinong, 16911, Indonesia; Department of Fisheries Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh; Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, 2308, NSW, Australia
