Author(s): Eman MM Moustafa and Marwa F Abd El-Kader

Abstract: Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is one of the most important food fishes allover the world. The current study was aimed to investigate the effect of different starvation periods and subsequent refeeding on growth, hematological and serum biochemical parameters in order to detect to which extent fry can tolerate starvation periods and compensate its growth during the refeeding period. This study was performed in glass aquariums at the fish research center, Sakha, Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, Egypt using 375 Nile Tilapia monosex fries weighing 3.5±0.5 gram. Fries were subjected to different starvation periods (4, 7, 10, 15 days), followed by refeeding on a commercial fish ration (30% protein) for 30 days. Fish growth parameters, hematological and serum biochemical parameters were recorded before starvation, before refeeding and after refeeding for 30 days. The obtained results revealed that; fries starved up to 10 days could restore all checked parameters close to the control levels. However, those fries subjected to prolonged starvation (15 days) showed significant negative effects on growth, hematological and serum biochemical parameters. It can be concluded that starvation-refeeding regimes in Oreochromis niloticus fries is of no value and has no economic profit.

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