ABSTRACT
The liver is of key importance when considering the action of toxic chemicals on fish. It is the primary organ for biotransformations of organic xenobiotics, and probably also for the excretion of harmful trace metals. The well-defined lobular structure of the mammalian liver is apparently not characteristic of fish. The liver/somatic index is usually expressed as the percentage of the wet weight of the liver is to the whole body and is often also referred to as the hepatosomatic index. The largest store of carbohydrate in the fish's body is in the liver and this is the primary source for blood glucose in the postabsorptive animal. An important function of the liver is the removal of hormones and potentially harmful substances from the plasma and subsequent excretion in the bile. Clinical laboratories have long used the measurement of the activity of certain enzymes in the blood plasma as a diagnostic tool for assessing liver damage in humans.
