This study was conducted to evaluate the growth and hematological responses of Clarias gariepinus juveniles fed diets containing different digestible lipids of plant origin. One hundred and eighty (180) juveniles (4.78±0.37g) were stocked using four treatments in three replicates. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks. Fish were fed at 5% body weight with four isonitrogenous diets (40% crude protein), with control diet without lipid supplement (D1). Diets (D2-D4) contained Soya oil, palm kernel oil and groundnut oil respectively. Weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and specific growth rate (SGR) showed significant difference (p<0.05) among treatments. However, the highest WG was recorded in D4 (10.69±0.97g) and lowest in fish fed D1 (9.91±0.35g). FCR ranged between 1.69±0.17 in D2 and 1.52±0.67 in D4 respectively. Protein utilization showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in all treatments. There were significant differences (P<0.05) among hematological parameters analyzed such as PCV, WBC, RBC, Hb, MCHC, MCH, MCV. The highest cholesterol level was recorded in fish fed D4 (1.67±0.81), while the lowest value was recorded in D1 (1.10±0.80). Triglyceride was highest in D3 (1.40±0.45) while the lowest value was recorded in the control D1 (1.20±0.45) with no lipid inclusion. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the HDL and LDL value in all treatments. Hence, all hematological indices fall in the required range for Clarias gariepinus.
Keywords: Clarias Gariepinus, Growth, Juveniles, digestible lipids, haematological responses, plant origin.
