Patterns of mudskipper consumption in selected fishing communities of Rivers State

A study on patterns of mudskipper consumption in selected fishing communities of Rivers State, was carried out, to determine the consumption rate, size preference, price mechanism and preparation methods of this species among the people living in these areas. A structured questionnaire was administered to 120 randomly selected respondents’ communities across 3 LGA of the state. The results obtained from the study indicated that consumption of mudskipper was more acceptable among the old than the young people. Mudskippers are being sold more in fresh form (70.83%), rather than smoked ones (20.87%). On the mode of utilization of Mudskippers, it was discovered that it is more used in preparation of native soup (45.83%), than other consumption variables such as stew, condiment and pepper soup. The price of mudskippers varies from one, community to another and ranges between N20/kg to N200/kg, with the average price of N50/kg (35.83%) and N100/kg (30. 83%) making it one of the cheapest fishery products. This makes it accessible and affordable to most people in these communities

The use of Probiotics in Aquaculture

Disease outbreaks are being increasingly recognized as important constraints to aquaculture production and trade, affecting the economic development of the sector in many countries. An increase of productivity in aquaculture has been accompanied by ecological impacts including emergence of a large variety of pathogens and bacterial resistance. These impacts are in part due to the indiscriminate use of chemotherapeutic agents as a result of   management practices in production cycles. There is an urgent need in   aquaculture to develop microbial control strategies. One of the alternatives to antimicrobials in disease control could be the use of probiotic bacteria as microbial control agents. Most of the work reviewed in this article describes commercial hatchery experiments, probiotic research in the culture of fish, crustaceans and live food with an evaluation of results obtained so far. Directions for further research are discussed.Key words: Probiotics, Chemotherapeutic, Fish Culture, Crustaceans, Water Quality

Hematological responses of Tilapia guineensis to acute stress

The effects of acute stress due to handling and transportation on the hematology of Tilapia guineensis was investigated. A total of sixty T. guineensis consisting of thirty juvenile fish (mean length 15.68m±322SD; mean weight 90.36g ±4.81SD) and thirty adult fish (mean length 22.74cm ± 4.78; mean weight 412.92g ± 6.23) were harvested from the recruitment ponds of the African Regional Aquaculture Centre, Brackish water Research Fish Farm, Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria. Their blood samples were immediately taken at the site. They were then subjected to series of handling procedures like capture, sorting and transfer from the pond site to hatchery. The fish were later transported a live in an open circular plastic tank to Port Harcourt, over a distance of 40 km by road. Their blood samples were collected again after the transportation. The results obtained indicated a significant reduction (p<0.05) in mean values of Hemoglobin (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV), Red blood cell, (RBC), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) and Thrombocytes. The number of White Blood Cell (WBC), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Neutrophils, (Neut) Lymphocytes (Lymp), and Monocytes (Mon) increased. The variations in these blood parameters were more pronounced in adult fish than the juveniles. This study showed that the adult fish are more susceptible to stress than the juveniles.Keywords: Hematology, stress, handling, transportation, Tilapia guineensis International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 5(4): 338-343, 200