International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.11, 77-89
77
Research Article Open Access
Changes in Blood Parameters of
Clarias gariepinus
Sub-adults Exposed to
2, 4-Dimethyl Amine
Fidelis Bekeh Ada
, Kenneth Igbang Sunday
Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Cross River University of Technology, Obubra Campus, Cross River State,
Nigeria
Corresponding author Email
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.11 doi
Received: 20 Mar., 2018
Accepted: 23 Apr., 2018
Published: 11 May, 2018
Copyright © 2018
Ada and Sunday, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Ada F.B., and Sunday K.I., 2018, Changes in blood parameters of
Clarias gariepinus
sub-adults exposed to 2, 4-Dimethyl Amine, International Journal of
Aquaculture, 8(11): 77-89 (doi
Abstract
Herbicide application for the control of weeds in rice fields has come to stay in Nigeria. A herbicide commonly applied is
2, 4-Dimethyl Amine. It became pertinent to investigate its effects on the haematology and possible lethality on
Clarias gariepinus
.
Sub-adults of
Clarias gariepins
measuring 906.7 ± 39.3 mg in weight 164.7 ± 10.2 mm in length were exposed to different
concentration of 2, 4-Dimethyl Amine in a 96 hour bioassay. The physicochemical parameters of the water, behavioural and
biological responses of the fish and the haemstological analysis of the exposed fish were evaluated. Mortalities were observed as,
LC
50
in 24 hours (22.5 mg/L), 48 hours (18.0 mg/L), 72 hours (16.5 mg/L) and 96 hours (15.0 mg/L). Other results showed that
temperature of the water was not influenced by the herbicide. The pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature of the water were not
statistically different (
p
>0.05) between control and treatment groups. The conductivity showed differences between the control and
the treated groups. Total white blood cells counts and other components of the white blood cells were not significantly (
p
>0.05) more
populated than the non exposed groups. The red blood cells parameters like haemoglobin, mean cell volume, erythrocytes
sedimentation rate and mean cell haemoglobin concentration were significantly (
p
>0.05) lower in exposed groups. This showed that
the herbicide had a negative impact on the oxygen carrying ability of the red blood cell.
Keywords
Clarias gariepinus
sub adults; 2, 4-Dimethyl Amide; Haematology; Water quality; Behavioural and biological responses
Background
Clarias gariepinus
is important in Nigerian Aquaculture. Offem et al. (2010) said it is the second most culture fish
in Nigeria in the 2000s. Presently,
Clarias gariepinus
is famous in Aquaculture because of its taste, high price
command in the market, and availability of seeds since it can reproduce or at least initiate reproduction in
captivity. This places it in Nigerian Aquaculture higher than its relative,
Heterobranchus
species that cannot
reproduce in captivity (Freund et al., 1995; Offem et al., 2008; Anetekhai, 2013). Tilapia that was preferred for
farming between 2005 and 2008 (Offem et al., 2010) is however reducing as the cat fishes are taking over this
position. The guest for using tilapia in Nigerian Aquaculture is reducing possibly due to explanation offered by
The Daily Trust of 10 March 2016, Adeyemo et al. (2005); which says that prominent among the factors scaring
farmers away from tilapia production are lack of reliable source of parent stock, taste, market and low technical
capacity among fish farmers across the country. It is therefore nearly impossible for a farmer who is just starting
and has no breeding facilities to engage in tilapia farming. Its importance is reflected in the views of Nasar et al.
(2002) in FAO, who described it as an equivalent of the guinea pig because of the amount of work done on it
(Gabriel et al., 2007; Ayoola and Ajani, 2008; Olufayo, 2009; Ada et al., 2011, Ayotunde et al., 2015. Niaraland
(2016) described it as equivalent of the cockerel in poultry because of its hardiness in the culture environment.
Nairaland (2016) has agreed that
Heterobranchus
has a limitless size and grows very fast. But he pointed that the
number of stunted individuals is higher in proportion compared to
Clarias
which is active and equally grows fast.
Heterobranchus
could grow up to 1 meter and weigh 20 kg at full size (Holden and Reed, 1972; Azeroual et al.,
2017). But
Heterobranchus
is not the most cultured species of fish in Nigeria due to none availability of both
broods and seeds.
Clarias gariepinus
farms accounts for 70.0% of fish culture in most farms in Nigeria.
