Authors : P.E. Omoruwou and J.A. Meye
Abstract: The growth performance of heteroclarias hybrid fingerlings was studied using watermelon seed meal as substitute for soybean meal. The 4 different diets were formulated with watermelon seed meal replacing soybeans at 25% (X2), 50% (X3) and 100% (X4) with (X1) as the control (0%) at 35% crude protein inclusion. The 25 fingerlings were randomly distributed in replicate for each treatment in transparent plastic tanks and fed 5% body weight throughout the study period of 10 weeks with weekly weight measurement and proper feed adjustment. The mean weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio were highest in X2 (10.41, 0.017 and 2.76 g, respectively) while lower values were recorded in X4 (5.91, 0.012 and 2.08 g, respectively). Dominance of protein in soybean as well as anti nutrxitional factor present in the raw watermelon seed meal and high fiber contents of diet are seen as reasons for better performance of diet with lesser watermelon meal inclusion. Therefore, its inclusion should be limited to 20% for better growth performance of heteroclarias hybrid.
P.E. Omoruwou and J.A. Meye, 2019. Growth Performance of Heteroclarias Hybrid Fingerlings Fed Watermelon Seed Meal as a Replacement for Soybean Meal. Journal of Fisheries International, 14: 1-5.