2.1. Collection of experimental fish

Wild-type adult zebrafish were collected from different ponds neighboring to the Faculty of Fisheries building, Bangladesh Agricultural University. Total length and weight of fishes ranged from 3 to 5 cm and 0.7–1.2 g, respectively. The fishes were reared in the aquaria and fed twice a day on a commercially prepared diet. The water quality parameters, such as temperature (30 ± 05⁰C), pH (7.52 ± 0.09), dissolved oxygen (6.08 ± 0.19 mg L⁻¹), free CO₂ (6.38 ± 0.48 mg L⁻¹) and total alkalinity (194.25 ± 9.95 mg L⁻¹) were recorded to be in the optimum range during the rearing period. The Animal Welfare and Ethical Committee, Bangladesh Agricultural University approved the experimental procedures used in this study.