Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR) on Some Stages of <i>Clarias gariespinus</i> (Catfish) Growth

Abstract

UVR is a stressor that affect ecological and social systems. It has been noted that UVR presents numerous difficulties for aquatic and human worldwide. It's critical to understand how UVR affects <i>Clarias gariespinus</i> in order to promote healthy fish growth. This study determined how UVR affected catfish. 172 catfish samples were divided into four groups: UV-A, UV-B, UV-C, and controls. The control group was not exposed, whereas the other groups were exposed to UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C, respectively. The exposure period was 131 days, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily. The result on color change shows that UV-C causes a change in color from dark to pink at the fingerling stage and UV-A causes a change in color from dark to slightly pink at the jumbo size, while no color change was observed in other samples. The result on growth rate indicates that the UV-B sample grew faster throughout the period of study, with the highest growth rates of 18.4, 16.2, 14.1, and 8.6 cm for the UV-B, UV-C, control, and UV-A samples, respectively. The result on the mortality rate of the samples shows that the control sample recorded the highest death rate (23) at the fingerling stage, followed by the UV-A (22), UV-C (19), and UV-B (12) samples. The result depicts that UV-B is capable of a rapid increase in the weight, growth, and life span of catfish; hence, exposure of catfish to UV-B can be adopted by fish farmers to improve the healthy fish growth of their farm.