CHANGES OF ENZÂ¥MATIC ACTIVITY DURING LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF CARP, CATLA CATLA (HAM.)

Abstract

Quantitative assays of trypsin, amylase and alkaline phosphatases
were made in relation to age and food during the larval development
of the Indian major carp Catla catla. The responses of all the test
enzymes to age and food were identical. No enzymes were detected
. from the fertilized eggs. Detectable amount of enzymes were first
observed in the first day old hatchlings. All the test enzymes in the
group fed normal feed tended to rise gradually with advancement of
age till day 22 after which an asymptotic level was attained. Absence
of food throughout the rearing period caused the enzymatic activity of
the larva to remain at the lowest level throughout. When starvation
was followed by feeding, enzymatic activity in the former group was
consistently higher than that of latter, suggesting that feeding activity
was primarily responsible in maintaining the enzymatic activity of
carp larva. The enzymatic activit¥ of zooplankton was significantly
higher than carp larva till d~y 6 ·to 12 after which the latter exceeded
the former implying that carp larva during development utilizes the
exogenous enzymes of zooplankton.