Impact of thermal pollution on the proximate composition of the freshwater prawn macrobrachiumrosenbergii in mettur freshwater ecosystem

Prawns contain good amount of organic and inorganic constituents. The major constituents are protein, carbohydrate and lipid. The proximate composition including moisture, fat and protein ash are good indicators of physiological condition of an organism. However, quantities of these constituents vary considerably within and between species with respect to size, sexual condition, feeding season and physical activity. In such an attempt, the present study was focussed to study the effect of thermal pollution on the proximate composition of the chosen tissues of the giant prawn,Macrobrachiumrosenbergii, collected from three different stations of Mettur freshwater ecosystem during various months from January to December, 2013. All the constituents were found to be higher at station III and lower at station I. whereas, the constituents were higher during the months January, February and March, 2013 and lower during April, May and June, 2013. Moisture (%) was observed to be the maximum component followed by protein (%) and lipid (%) was in the minimum level. The results were discussed in detail.