Development of Fry Diets for African Catfish (C. gariepinus) Larvae in Uganda

• Published in: Journal of fisheries and aquatic science Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 45
• Main Authors: Nabulime, M, Rutaisire, J, Ssekaayi, J, Smith, D, Kabasa, J D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Clarias gariepinus; Uganda; Africa; Israel
• ISSN: 1816-4927; 1996-0751
• DOI: 10.3923/jfas.2015.45.53

The African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is a popular cultured species in Uganda and the demand for fingerlings outstrips supply. The low supply of fingerlings is partly attributed to lack of affordable fry diets as the available feeds are imported and expensive. The study investigated the growth of C. gariepinus larvae fed on locally formulated diets. The dietary treatments had three protein levels, 56.1% (P56), 58.3% (P58) and 60.3% (P60) and a commercial diet (ranaan starter) from Israel as P-control. The diets were evaluated by proximate analyses and followed by a completely randomized block biological experiment. A total of 600, eight day old larvae were stocked in each tank (804040 cm) in triplicates and were fed treatment diets at 8.00 am, 12.00 noon, 2.00 and 6.00 pm. After 96 days, the fingerlings for each group were compared for growth effects and survival. The body weight of fish differed by treatment (p = 0.007). Weight gain over the study period was greatest for the control diet. Specific contrasts between diets showed growth of fish larvae fed P60 was better than in P58 (p = 0.04) and P56 (p = 0.0X). Furthermore, P56 and P58 did not show a statistically significant difference in growth. Fisher's exact test performed on liver histology for lipid deposition did not show statistically significant differences among the diets (p-value = 0.0727). Fish gained best with imported feed but based on this research, local feed ingredients formulation in P60 may have potential to be used to culture C. gariepinus larvae.