Question

The term 'terror of Bengal' is used for

• A. algal bloom
• B. Eichhornia crassipes
• C. increased biochemical oxygen demand
• D. eutrophication.

Answer 1

The correct option is B Eichhornia crassipes

Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range. Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and subtropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in height. One of the fastest growing plants known, water hyacinth reproduces primarily by way of runners or stolons, which eventually form daughter plants. Each plant additionally can produce thousands of seeds each year, and these seeds can remain viable for more than 28 years. It was introduced in Bengal in India because of its beautiful flowers and shapes of leaves, but turned out to be an invasive weed draining oxygen from the water bodies and resulted in death of many fish. Fish is a supplement food in Bengal, and because of the fish scarcity in Bengal caused by Eichhornia, the water hyacinth is also called "Terror of Bengal".

So the correct option is 'Eichhornia crassipes'