Extensive industrialization and urbanization have introduced domestic as well as industrial wastes into aquatic ecosystems.Dueto lack of proper treatment and improper mode of disposal, the water bodies have become more polluted with toxic substancesand their adverse effects including mortality to aquatic organisms, are becoming more prominent.In recent years, much attention has been paid to the possible danger of metal poisoning in humans as a result of consumption of contaminated fishes.Vanadium is a rare elementfound combined with certain minerals and mainly from the production of certain alloys used in jet engines. Humans may be exposed to excessive vanadium and may develop adverse vascular effects.In the present investigation, efforts have been made to investigate the effect of sublethal concentration of vanadium (6.5 ppm; 10% of 96h LC50) on the bioaccumulation in gill, liver and skin of the catfish Heteropneustes fossilis for 60 days. The pattern of bioaccumulation was in the order liver > gill > skin. Theresults suggest that the organ-specific variation is directly related to the structural and functional change, proximity to the toxicant and presence of ligands having high affinity to vanadium.