Physiology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Animal and Environmental Biology, faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, P.M.B 1154, Benin City, Nigeria
The study investigates the effect of a commonly and widely used herbicide 'IPA Glyphosate' on the histopathology of gastrointestinal tract of exposed post juvenile catfish (Clarias gariepinus) under laboratory condition. Results showed that alterations in GIT were both dose and time dependent and include: hyperplasia of gastric mucosa, necrotic hyperplasia, severe degenerative and necrotic changes in the intestinal mucosa and submucosa. The alterations further buttress the advantage of histopathological markers for detecting rapid response of organisms to toxins in its early stage. This study has shown that the use of glyphosate herbicide can act as a stressor on non-target organisms such as C. gariepinus and with the alterations observed can go a long way to affect the absorption of food in the intestine, hence, the growth of the fish.