Growth performance of Heteroclarias fed maggot meal at varying inclusion levels

70-day growth trial was conducted with Heteroclarias: Heterobranchus bidorsalis X Clarias gariepinus (mean weight 0.64~c0.006g) fed diets based on various inclusion levels of Maggot Meal. The fishmeal in the control diet was replaced with maggot meals at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% levels to supply 40% crude protein in the final diets. The trails were conducted in glass tanks (60cmx30cmx30cm). Evaluation of growth parameters and nutrient utilization of the fish was based on weight gains, protein intake, protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilization, feed conversion efficiency and carcass analysis. Best growth and feed conversion efficiency were obtained with the 75% dietary inclusion of maggot meal. There was no significant differences (P>0.055) between the group of fish on 50% and 75% dietary inclusion maggot meal in growth performance and protein efficiency ratio but, there was a significant (P<0.05) difference in the NPU (Net Protein Utilization) and protein gain between the control diet and those fed on maggot meals. There was no marked variation in the survival rate of fish on all diet

Comparative growth and survival of fry of Clarias gariepinus (B), Clarias anguillaris (L), Heterobranchus bidorsalis (G), Heteroclarias, Clariabranchus and Clarias hybrids under outdoor nursery management system

Hybrids of Clariid catfishes; C. gariepinus (Netherlands), C. anguillaris, H. bidorsalis and their parental species were monitored for 8 weeks in 2 x 2 x 1m outdoor concrete tanks. The fry were fed NIFFR diet (40% crude protein) twice daily, 7 days of the week. Growth and survival records were taken weekly. The male HEB X female CLG hybrid showed an overall highest performance in growth rate while the lowest was recorded in male CLA X female CLG hybrid. The male HEB X female CLG hybrid grew at a faster rate than its reciprocal hybrid. In view or their growth rate, it is possible that the growth and survival rates or H. bidorsalis especially at the fry to fingerling stage could be improved through hybridization. The hybrid have potential as commercial food fis

Effects of enclosure colour on growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fry

The effect of five enclosure colour on the production of Clarias gariepinus fry at post- yolk absorption stage were examined in the indoor hatchery during the first phase of exogenous feeding. A total of 3600 C. gariepinus fry (mean weight, 6.3 ~c 0.00 mg) were stocked into 15,56 litres capacity laboratory plastic bowls. Tank colours evaluated were black, blue, green, white and maroon. Frys were fed on zooplankton ad-libitum. Results indicated that tank colour had significant impact (P 0.05) than the blue and green tanks treatments but was significantly higher ( P > 0.05) than the blue and green tanks treatments. Based on the results, it is obvious that the background enclosure colour has effects on the growth and survival of fry in the indoor rearing system. A general tendency of higher fry growth and survival in dark colour backgrounds was evident. This could have a significant financial impact on commercial fingerlings production of C. gariepinus as fish hatchery operators in Nigeria do not currently take into consideration the colour of tanks use for the rearing of fry in the indoor hatchery

Growth of two tilapias in floating plastic cages

A growth trial of Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon galilaeus fingerlings in floating plastic cages was carried out for 180 days. O. niloticus (mean wt., 75 ~C 0.50g) and S. galilaeus (mean wt., 36.40~c 1.80g) were stocked at 250 fish fingerlings/m3. The study was conducted in four 2x2xl m plastic cages with two replicate cages for each treatment. A 25% protein balanced diet was used as feed. The mean weight gain ranged from 0.33 to 0.91g/day while the mean final weight ranged from 60.0g to 162.00g for O. niloticus and S. galilaeus, respectively. Total fish production ranged from 15.90 to 16.00kg/m3. The highest survival (100%) was obtained in 0. niloticus while the lowest (98.4%) was obtained in S. galilaeus. The major constraint in the study was the inadequacy of suitable fingerlings size for stocking the plastic cages

Potentials of some medicinal plants as fertility enhancing agents in fish

The potentials of some medicinal plants that enhance fertility in animals were highlighted. Though, these medicinal plants can be used for other purposes but this paper focused on the fertility potential of the plants on animals. Some of the plants such as date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), wild yam (Discorea villosa) and Focus capensis had been discovered to enhance fertility in rats, monkey and poultry. Therefore if these medicinal plants could work on rats and poultry for fertility enhancement, the plants could as well be tried on fish so as to enhance the fecundity and sperm production in female and male brooders which will eventually lead to increase in fish seeds production. However, research is on going on the use of some medicinal plants to enhance fecundity and sperm production in male and female brooders in order to increase fingerlings production which would subsequently lead to increase in fish production

Effect of stocking density on the growth rates of Clarias gariepinus in a floating hapa system

An experimental growth trial in floating net-hapas at three stocking densities in concrete pond was carried out. 4.68 5.25g mean individual weight fish were stocked at 25, 50 and 100 per m3. A 40% protein balanced diet was used as feed. The results of the study showed no statistical significant difference in growth among the three treatments. Food conversion ratios ranged in 1.60 to 1.82, and specific growth rates were between 3.80 and 4.16%/day. The result suggests that culture of C. gariepinus at a density of 50/m3 and production of 4.15kg/m3 in 84 days with production of 8.30kg/m3 in a growing season of 180 days is possible using the net-hapa systems enclosed in a concrete pond

Effect of operational parameters, characterization and antibacterial studies of green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Tithonia diversifolia

Background: There is a growing interest in the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using plant extract because the technique is cost effective, eco-friendly and environmentally benign. This is phasing out the use of toxic and hazardous chemical earlier reported. Tithonia diversifolia is a wild sunflower that grows widely in the western part of Nigeria with a proven medicinal benefit. However, several studies carried out have left doubts on the basic operational parameters needed for the green synthesis of AgNPs. The objective of this work was to carry out green synthesis of AgNPs using T. diversifolia extract via an eco-friendly route through optimization of various operational parameters, characterization, and antimicrobial studies. Method: Green synthesis of TD-AgNPs was done via bottom-up approach through wet chemistry technique using environmentally benign T. diversifolia plant extract as both reducing and stabilizing agent. Phytochemical Screening of the TD plant extract was carried out. Experimental optimization of various operational parameters—reaction time, concentration, volume ratio, and temperature was investigated. TD-AgNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, FTIR Spectroscopy, SEM/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Antimicrobial studies against multi drug resistant microorganisms (MDRM) were studied using the agar well diffusion method. Results: This study reveals the importance of various operational parameters in the synthesis of TD-AgNPs. Excellent surface plasmon resonance peaks (SPR) were obtained at optimum experimental factors of 90 min reaction time under room temperature at 0.001M concentration with the volume ratio of 1:9 (TD extract:Ag ion solution). The synthesis was monitored using UV– Vis and maximum wavelength obtained at 430 nm was due to SPR. The morphology and elemental constituents obtained by TEM, SEM, and EDX results revealed a spherical shape of AgNPs with prominent peak of Ag at 3.0 kV in EDX spectrum. The crystallinity nature was confi rmed by XRD studies. FTIR analysis proved presence of biomolecules functioning as reducing, stabilizing, and capping agents. These biomolecules were confi rmed to be fl avonoid, triterpenes, and saponin from phytochemical screening. The antimicrobial studies of TD-AgNPs were tested against MDRM— Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella enterica, and Bacillus subtilis. Discussion: The variation of reaction time, temperature, concentration, and volume ratio played substantive and fundamental roles in the synthesis of TD-AgNPs. A good dispersion of small spherical size between 10 and 26 nm was confirmed by TEM and SEM. A dual action mechanism of anti-microbial effects was provided by TD-AgNPs which are bactericidal and membrane-disruption. Based on the antimicrobial activity, the synthesized TD-AgNPs could find good application in medicine, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food science

Effect of stocking density on the growth rates of Clarias gariepinus in a floating hapa system

Any aquaculture system needs constant supply of good quality water. In the arid zone of Nigeria this problem becomes more acute. This study therefore tries to rear fish is enclosure (net-hapas) suspended in outdoor concrete tanks to maximize the use of water and feed. About 350 fingerlings (of mean weight of 4.93g) of Clarias gariepinus caught in the same locality in Lake Alau ( Maiduguri, Borno State) were stocked in net-hapas (1 x 1x 1 m) at 25,50 and 100 fish/m3. Each treatment was duplicated the fish were fed three times a day on a formulated 40% protein balanced diet at 5% body weight per day. Batch weighing of the fish in each net-hapa was carried out every fortnight for body weight measurement. Water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature were measured weekly. The results of the fish growth and feed utilization efficiency were pooled for each treatment, computed and analyzed using one-way-analysis of variance (ANOVA) Mortality was highest in treatment 3 (100/m3) when compared with treatments I and 2 (25/m3 and 50/m3 respectively). This is mainly due to handling stress because of the long distance from Lake Alau 10 the NIFFR Zonal Station outdoor ponds (>45km) and the method of capture (Cast net). There were slight differences in mean final weight and food conversion of the fish at the end of the study but no statistical differences were found among the treatments (P<0. 05)

Rainfall characteristics in the humid and transition zones of southwest, Nigeria

Rainfall characteristics are important for agriculture since they are the variable constant in rain-fed agriculture. Three important characteristics of rainfall are its amount, frequency and intensity, the values of which vary from place to place, day to day, month to month and also year to year. Precise knowledge of these characteristics is essential for planning the full utilization of rainfall. This study compared rainfall characteristics in the humid zone (Lagos) and transition zones (Abeokuta and Ibadan) in South-Western Nigeria. Daily rainfall data for 26 years (1985-2010) were used to determine the rate of evapotranspiration using the FAO56 Penman-Monteith method for evapotranspiration while dry spells and rain days weresubjected to inferential and descriptive statistics. During the 26years period, the mean rainfall in Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos was 1236.77mm, 1418.8mm and 1507mm respectively. Results found that there was no statistically significant difference in amount and incidence of rainfall in Lagos and Ibadan only. On average, dry spell varies from 6-35days with Lagos&gt;Abeokuta&gt;Ibadan while Abeokuta had the mean highest evapotranspiration rate followed by Ibadan and Lagos, during the study period. Keywords: Mean amount, humid period, climate change, moisture, crop growt

Evaluation of the Cytogenotoxic Effects of Emulsifiable Concentrate form of Amitraz Pesticide on Allium cepa L

The cytogenotoxic effects of emulsifiable concentrate of amitraz pesticides was evaluated using Allium cepa L. test. The root meristems of A. cepa L. were treated with five concentrations (1%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 40%) of the chemical pesticide at 48 h for cytogenetic analyses and 96 h for root length inhibition. Pesticide doses affected root length significantly (P&lt;0.05) at 5% to 40%; with 50% effective concentration (EC50) value of 18% while there was no significant difference between control and 1% (p&gt;0.05). The mean root length of the treated A. cepa for Amitraz pesticides in all concentrations was lower compared to the control showing the obvious mitodepressive effects of amitraz pesticides. A dose dependent reduction in the total mitotic dividing cells and mitotic index was observed in A. cepa treated with the pesticides. The values of mitotic index obtained for amitraz pesticides at 5% (5.20), 10% (4.0), 20% (2.30) and 40% (0.80) were lower than half of the negative control (7.25), which reflect its cytotoxicity. All the concentrations of the pesticides used in the present study induced important abnormalities during mitotic division. These aberrations were: chromosome stickiness, disturbed spindle, anaphase and telophase bridges, chromosome fragments, laggard chromosomes, and c- Mitosis. The highest abnormality number was observed in the root tips of Allium cepa (5%) while the least was at 40%. Frequencies of chromosome abnormalities were low at 20% and 40% concentration because of damaged cell and lower cell divisions. The present study, showed the inhibition of growth and induction of chromosomal aberrations by amitraz, this suggest their capability in inducing cytotoxicity and genome instabilityKeywords: Allium cepa, chromosomes, amitraz pesticides, aberrations, mitotic inde