HAEMATOLOGY AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF Clarias gariepinus FED DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RAW AND STEAM-HEATED Moringa oleifera LEAF MEAL DIETS

The use of plant protein sources in aquaculture to substitute fishmeal is becoming popular however, the effect of these plant protein sources on the blood of fish should be known. The study examined the haematology and serum biochemistry of Clarias gariepinus fed two levels of raw and processed Moringa oleifera leaf meal diets, respectively. M. oleifera leaf meal substituted fish meal at 0 % (control), 15 %, 30 % (raw) and 15 %, 30 % (steam heated) in the five different diets. A total of 300 Clarias gariepinus fingerlings mean weight 9.20 + 0.08 g were randomly distributed into 15 plastic aquaria tanks of 750 liters' capacity at 20 fish per tank in triplicate treatments and were fed twice daily at 9.00 hrs and17.00 hrs for 12 weeks. The results showed that the differences in packed cell volume, red blood cell, white blood cell and haemoglobin concentration were statistically (p > 0.05) not significant between the control and the treatment diets. Fish serum enzymes were statistically (p > 0.05) similar for the control and the treatments but blood cholesterol value of the treatments were insignificantly lowered. It is concluded that the use of M. oleifera leaf meal either raw or steam-heated as a substitute at 15 % for fishmeal have no significant changes (P > 0.05) on the haematology and serum biochemistry, implying no negative impact on the health status of  C. gariepinus.

Keywords: Clarias gariepinus, Moringa oleifera leaf meal, haematology, serum biochemistry