Abstract

This study investigated the growth performance, nutrient utilization and haematology of Clarias gariepinus juveniles fed with graded levels of yam peels (YMP). Replacement levels of 0 % (Control diet, CTR), 5 % (Diet 1), 10 % (Diet 2) and 15 % (Diet 3) for maize meal were tried. Feeds were fed to triplicate groups of ten fish per tank twice daily to satiation for eight weeks. Diet had effects ( p <0.05) on Mean weight gain (MWG), Specific growth rate (SGR) and Mean voluntary feed intake (MVFI) across treatments. Fish fed with CTR recorded highest values for MWG (138.00±2.21g), SGR (2.12±0.01%) and MVFI (0.95±0.06g) while Diet 3 had least values for MWG (92.82±5.85g), SGR (1.69±0.06%) and MVFI (0.66±0.01g). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) and Protein efficiency ratio (PER) had significant differences ( p <0.05) among the test diets, with the control diet having the highest values for FCR (0.95±0.05) and PER (2.32±0.13). Significant differences ( p <0.05) were also recorded in the values of Packed cell volume (PVC), Red blood cells (RBC), Haemoglobin (Hb) and White blood cells (WBC) across diets. The poor growth performance coupled with reduced physiological activities of YMP at different inclusion levels tested, suggests that it could not favourably replace maize meal in the diet of C. gariepinus . Keywords: dietary effects, Clarias gariepinus , maize, yam peels, growth performance. The Zoologist , 10:13-17 (2012)

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