Author(s): Adebayo Israel Adekunle, Akin-Obasola Bola Joyce

Abstract: Fish larval nutritional requirements a major concern for the expansion of larviculture of many fish species. Live foods such as rotifer, daphnia and artemia are mostly used in the hatchery production of fish hatchlings. This experiment was carried out to determine whether live feed(Artemia) and formulated imported feed (Coppens) or the combination of the two feeds at different proportions will efficiently enhanced the growth and survivability of hybrid (H. bidorsalis x H. longifilis) hatchlings. After endogenous feeding, average of 70-80 hatchlings initial mean weight (0.12±0.00) g were counted in each experimental tank (70 cm x 45cm x 40 cm) replicate twice to give five treatments in a complete randomized design. Each diet was fed adlibitum for 56 days. The result shows that live food (D1) (100% Artemia) was best utilized for growth and feed utilization by the Hybrid (H. bidorsalis x H. longifilis) catfish fry. Fry fed imported formulated diet (D2) (100% Coppens) shows significantly (p<0.05) lowest growth rate and survivability compared to fry fed D3-D5 (different ratios of live and formulated diets). The best growth performance recorded in fry fed livernfeed might be as a result of increased in food intake coupled with high nutrient digestibility.

Pages: 143-146  |  1437 Views  93 Downloads

Download Full Article: Click Here