Abstract

A 63 day experiment was conducted to determine the effect of varying dietary levels of cocoa bean meal (CBM) on the body growth, gonadal development, and blood lipid profile of Clarias gariepinus catfish. Four hundred C. gariepinus post-fingerlings were randomly assigned to five treatments with eighty fish per treatment. Each treatment was replicated four times with 20 fish per replicate in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) with sex as a block. Diets (35% crude protein) containing 0, 10, 20, 40, and 50% CBM were formulated to be fed to the fish in treatments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. Before the commencement of feeding the experimental diet, ten fish (five males and five females) were randomly collected from the various treatments, weighed, dissected, and the gonads (ovaries and testes) harvested and fixed in a bouins fluid. The fixed samples were them taken to the laboratory for histologic and histomorphometric studies. After three weeks of feeding the experimental diets, eight fish (four males and four females) were randomly selected from the various treatments. The gonads were also harvested and fixed for laboratory studies. Further random selections of the fish for laboratory studies were done on fortnightly basis till the 9th week of the study. At the end of the study, four fish from each treatment were selected and blood samples were collected from them for haematology and blood lipid profile. Body weights and lengths measurements were made and recorded on weekly basis. Feed was given to the fish at 5% bio mass and the water changed weekly to ensure freshness. Results of the study showed that the average final standard length, average standard length gain, average final total length, and total length gain were not significantly (P≥0.05) different among the treatments. The average total weight and total weight gain however differed significantly (P