Effect of dietary lipids sources on growth performance, intestinal morphology and blood profiles of Clarias gariepinus juveniles

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary lipid sources on growth performance, blood profiles and intestinal morphology of African catfish Clarias gariepinus juveniles. Six experimental diets were formulated at 45% crude protein to contain 100 g sunflower oil (SFO), coconut oil (CCO), soybean oil (SBO), olive oil (OLO), groundnut oil (GNO) and the control (no oil). Mean weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), packed cell volume (PVC), haemoglobin (Hb), lymphocyte (LYM), globulin (Glo), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) contents and intestinal morphology were determined using standard method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at P = 0.05. There were general increase in the weight of the fish, where the control diet had a better weight gain (32.85±3.13) compared to the lipid sources. The control diet had the best feed conversion ratio (1.46±0.14) compared to the lipid sources. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among hematological parameters analyzed such as PCV, WBC, RBC, Hb. Albumin was least (37.00±1.00 g/100 ml) in fish fed SBO diet. The values of the aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase of 11.00±2.83 and 13.00±2.83 respectively were higher in SFO diet than the control diet. The values of the villi width, cryptal depth, and cryptal width of 232.17±7.49, 630.66±67.45 and 228.10±79.3 respectively were higher in SBO diet than other lipid sources and the control diet. Fish fed with dietary lipid sources had enhanced the weight gain, feed conversion ratio, blood parameters and intestinal morphology of C. gariepinus juveniles.