Changes in Glycogen Content of Brain in Starving Catfish Clarias batrachus [Linn.]

Glycogen is a multi-branched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals. The present paper deals with changes in the level of glycogen in Clarias batrachus, which was subjected to prolonged fasting of 40 days. Tissues of brain were selected for the study. Glycogen content was estimated by the calorimetric method of Kemp et al. (1954) as modified by Krishnaswamy & Srinivasan (1961). The starvation showed a non-significant depletion of glycogen content in brain tissues up to 20 days of starvation. However, the male showed more depletion of glycogen content than that of female. After 40 days of starvation, the glycogen depleted about 51% in male and 50% in female of their normal values. Clarias adapted well to starvation stress and survived all throughout the experimental period.