PAPER TITLE :GROWTH AND NUTRIENT UTILIZATION OF HETEROBRANCHUS BIDORSALIS FED EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS LEAF MEAL SUPPLEMENTED DIETS

APPLIED TROPICAL AGRICULTURE | VOLUME 24 NUMBER 2 2019

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : Afe, O.E., Dada, A.A. and Olufayo, M.O.
  • Abstract:

The present study evaluates the growth performance and nutrient utilization of Heterobranchus bidorsalis fingerlings fed varying inclusion levels of Eucalyptus globulus leaf meal. H. bidorsalis fingerlings of initial mean weight of 12.24g ± 0.01 were evaluated for a period of 70 days. Five iso-nitrogenous experimental diets were formulated at varying inclusion levels; (0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) g/100g of E. globulus leaf meal. Fish were randomly distributed into tanks at 10 fish/tank with each treatment in triplicate. At the expiration of the feeding trials, results showed significant differences (p<0.05) in growth and nutritional performance of H. bidorsalis fingerlings with increasing inclusion of E. globulus leaf meal. H. bidorsalis fingerlings fed 1.0g/100g diet of Eucalyptus globulus recorded the best growth performance with respect to body weight gain, feed conversion ratio 4 3 2(FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR). (P<0.05). A differential equation (y = 13.433x - 46.633x + 38.922x + 0.8983x + 14.56; R² = 1) showed that optimum growth occurred at E. globulus supplementation level of approximately 0.85 g/100g. The study therefore showed that E. globulus leaf meal supplementation significantly improved growth and nutrient utilization parameters in the treated groups.