Pangasianodon hypophthalmus is one of the most important aquaculture species in Southeast Asia, with a significant contribution to the world fish basket. Like other crops, the striped catfish suffers from bacterial diseases that demand the use of antibiotics. The present study has evaluated the safety of oxytetracycline, one of the approved and commonly used antibiotics, in this species. Juvenile stages of the fish (31.16 ± 1.03 g) were administered with the antibiotic in feed at the dose rate of 80–800 mg kg−1 body weight daily for 30 days, followed by 10 days of withdrawal observation. Fish health was assessed by the study of behaviour and feed intake, haematology, blood biochemistry, and histopathology. Results showed that up to 30 days of antibiotic treatment resulted in no significant toxic effects in terms of behaviour and fish mortality. However, fish suffered from reduced feed intake and hepatotoxicity evidenced by proliferative and degenerative changes of hepatocytes, and increase in AST and ALT enzyme activities, especially in 400–800 mg kg−1 doses which, however, recovered after withdrawal of the drug. Although few fish died from a bacterial infection at the lowest concentration of the drug used, fish were able to mount adaptive physiological responses best at 80 mg kg−1 fish dosage. The study establishes that in‐feed administration of the antibiotic oxytetracycline @ 80 mg kg−1 fish biomass is safe for therapeutic use in P. hypophthalmus.

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The Asian Paradise Flycatcher has always been a flamboyant passerine to be photographed quite often throughout the Gangetic Bengal in India, but hardly any behavioural documentation is enlisted till date.  The nesting behaviour of the subject bird encompassing its parental behaviours was studied on a wetland stretch of Ishapore, southern Gangetic Bengal.  The present study mainly deals with the nesting behaviour, incubation activities, hatching, and parental care to fledging of a wild pair.  The behavioural changes at par with the changing weather conditions and the neighbouring species too were studied.

The one‐stripe spiny eel (Macrognathus aral, Bloch & Schneider, 1801) under the family Mastacembelidae, a native ornamental fish, were collected from the freshwater ponds and canals of West Bengal, with a purpose to raise the colony as ornamental fish broodstock. During acclimatization, fish were found to be lethargic and reluctant to consume feed followed by the appearance of deep wounds and red patches on the ventral part of the body surface. There was a mortality of 40.49% of affected fish within the next 48 hours. Post‐mortem examinations revealed the presence of metacercariae inside the body cavity and on internal organs, spreading up to the buccal cavity. The abundance of the parasite was 15 to 36 numbers per fish. The length of the metacercaria varied from 5.2 mm to 9.8 mm. The metacercariae were identified as Clinostomum complanatum by light microscopy. Further, molecular confirmation of identification was done using PCR amplification and sequencing of the 18S RNA gene. This is the first report of metacercarial infestation of Clinostomum complanatum with molecular confirmation in indigenous M. aral with high ornamental value.

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