Effect of replacing dietary fish meal with silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae on hematological parameters of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Abstract

In this study, the effects of substituting fish meal with different levels of silkworm pupae on hematological parameters of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus were investigated over the course of a 60-day experiment. For this purpose, four treatment groups including T1: with 100 % fish meal (FM), T2: 5 % silkworm pupae (SP) + 95 % FM, T3: 10 % SP + 95 % FM, and T4: 15 % SP + 95 % FM and one control group were considered for the experiment. Each treatment group was divided into three replicates of 30 fish per replicate. According to the results, the values of red blood cells (RBCs) and hemoglobin (Hb) were decreased significantly with increasing of silkworm pupae percent in diet. In this regard, the lowest values of RBCs and Hb were observed in T4. There were no significant differences between experimental treatments in terms of hematocrit values. The MCH, MCV, and white blood cell values increased with increasing of silkworm pupae percent in diet. Also, the MCHC values did not show significant differences between experimental treatments. In conclusion, our results showed that incorporation of silkworm pupae in diet can affect health status of rainbow trout.