Freshwater bodies are being contaminated by heavy metal pollution. The major source of contamination arise from human activities such as industrial development, agricultural practices and combustion of fossil fuel that release various hazardous heavy metals causing deleterious impacts on human and aquatic life. This review paper highlights the contamination of muscles of three commercially important fishes (Catla catla, Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella) of carp family with heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Hg, Cu and Cr. The statistically significant differences (P>0.05) among values. Heavy metals concentration in fish muscles were assessed and their relationship with the fish habitat was explored.it was observed that continuous metal discharge into fish habitat leads to their bioaccumulation in various fish tissues. It was also found that the parts of freshwater which are present near the industrial areas are highly contaminated and they impose potential fish and human health risks. The occurrence of heavy metals in selected specie generally ranked in order Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Hg. The presence of heavy metals also causes several social, environmental and health issues. Therefore the wastewater must be treated before discharge into freshwater bodies to decrease the hazardous effects of heavy metals on aquatic life and human beings. This review article aims to study concentration of level of fish muscles concerning heavy metals.
Carp species due to easy access to breeding, food efficiency and rapid growth could be the best choice for aquaculture over worldwide (Tokur et al., 2006).
Catla catla is a surface feeder mostly feed on zooplankton, small insects, phytoplankton and small crustaceans (Saleem et al., 2022). C.idella commonly known as grass carp is an edible freshwater fish of Asia (Aslam et al., 2022). Cyprinus carpio (common carp) habitat is usually weedy areas with muddy bottom. They feed on zooplankton like copepods, rotifers.