Preliminary study on cataract in Mosquito fish

The cataract development and its influence on the living of mosquito fish Gambusia affinis were explored in this studies. The external shape and behavior changed of mosquito fish were noticed, and the opaque in the eyes were closely monitored. Preliminary investigation found that the incidence of cataract in some groups reached 70%. The cataractous fish would often be seen near the surface of the water, and later became dark and thin. Cataract in fish can cause vision impaired and even blindness, may reduce food intake and growth rate. The cataracts were bilateral, and various grade opaque were found in fish eyes. The mostly cataracts were pernuclear cataract and “swollen cloudy lens”cataract. The eyeballs were fixed in different stage and the hispathological changes were observed with light microscope.The pathological changed were found in the lens, the cortical fibres were denaturalizated, in seriously affected lens the fibre resulted in disruption. The epithelial cells were often disrupted, and in some cases the hyperplasia cells were observed. The mosquito fish were susceptible models for fish cataractous research.