Studies on the nutrition of brackish water catfish - Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus

Abstract

The nutritional effects of the complete or partial replacement of fishmeal by Soyabean meal in the diets of catfish were investigated. Four diets A, B, C, and D in which 34% of fish meal was replaced weight by weight with 0%, 10%, 20% and 34% of Soya-bean meal respectively were fed to four groups of brackish water catfish for six weeks. Results showed that although the digestibilities of proteins were almost equal in all the four groups, the groups fed diet D in which 100% of the fishmeal had been replaced by Soyabean had the least growth as compared to A, B and C. Nevertheless, the group fed diet D (with the least growth) had an economy of gain twice that of the group fed diet A. The liver and heart indices and the proximate compositions of the muscle were not affected by dietary treatments.