Aquaculture & Fisheries

Biography

Biography: Nchumbeni Humtsoe

Abstract

A six months feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the incorporation of five feed ingredients with the flesh of Nerita species in the diet of Labeo rohita. Fingerlings of Labeo rohita weighing 2-4 gm were divided into six groups and fed with prepared feeds using five different feed ingredients such as ground nut oil cake, tapioca flour, rice bran and wheat flour along with different levels of the flesh of Nerita species as experimental diets. A control group of rohus fingerlings was maintained on pelleted feed without adding the flesh of Nerita species. Fishes were fed twice daily with the respective test diets at the rate of 4% body weight during entire culture period of three months. Results regarding growth performance of L.rohita fingerlings fed on different experimental diets showed that the best growth performance of fish in terms of percentage live weight gain was noted as 131.68 % where as 46.60 % was noted with control diet which is prepared without adding the flesh of Nerita species . Maximum increase in length (2.90cm) was noticed in the fingerlings fed with highest level of the flesh of Nerita species compared to minimum increase in length (1.33 cm). Specific Growth Rate (SGR) per day of fish fed on different experimental diets was noted in the range of 0.22 - 0.61 percentage compared to control diet which was noted as 0.28 percentage. The feed conversion ratio observed 4.417 was highest in fish fed with highest level of the flesh of Nerita species compared to fish fed on control diet which is noted as 4.032. This study reveals that incorporation of the flesh of Nerita species  in different feed ingredients  is one of the best animal proteins in terms of growth and feed conversion which is optimum for growth of Labeo rohita.