Some Physiological Parameters of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Juveniles fed Composite Insect Meal and Phyto-Additives in Cage Culture System

A 70 days experiment was conducted to examine the effect of fishmeal substitution with defatted African palm weevil larvae supplemented with phyto-additives on the growth performance and nutrient utilization of Clarias gariepinus juveniles. Seven diets were formulated containing 45% crude protein: control diet was formulated using fishmeal as the principal protein source, three individual diets were prepared using 17% each of fish meal and defatted African palm weevil larvae supplemented with Telfairia occidentalis, Corchorus olitorious and Cymbopogon citratus as phyto-additives. Another three individual diets were prepared using 17% each of fish meal and  defatted African palm weevil larvae supplemented with a mixture of Telfaria occidentalis and Corchorus olitorious, Telfairia occidentalis and Cymbopogon citratus, and Corchorus olitorious and Cymbopogon citratus as phyto-additives making it a total of seven diets. A total of 450 juveniles of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) was used for the experiment and distributed into 21 baskets embedded in a pond each containing 20(7.50±0.00-7.53±0.00 g/fish) fish.  At the end of the feeding trial, the mean weight gain was significantly different (P>0.05) across the fish fed experimental diets. The fish fed with African palm weevil and Telfairia occidentalis as phyto-additives recorded the highest mean weight gain(95.66±25.64) percentage weight gain(91.77±2.14) compared to the other groups. The nutrient utilization indices such as feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency ratio were found to be better in fish fed African palm weevil compared with the CONTROL group. A significantly higher whole-body protein was recorded in fish fed African palm weevil and phyto-additives. From this study, it was concluded that processed African palm weevil larvae with phyto-additives especially Telfairia occidentalis can effectively replace fishmeal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus juveniles.