NUTRITIVE POTENTIAL OF EARTHWORM (EISENIA FOETIDA) MEAL IN THE DIET FOR NILE TILAPIA (OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS) FINGERLINGS

Abstract

Earthworm meal (ETM) was evaluated to investigate its effect on growth and fatty acid profile of juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Triplicate groups of fish with average initial body weight (5.57 ± 0.15 g) were fed each with earthworm meal (ETM) and market available feed (MAF). After twelve weeks of feeding trials, fish fed with ETM revealed the significantly highest values for live weight gain, specific growth rate, better feed conversion ratio as well as protein efficiency ratio compared to the fish fed with MAF. Survival range was 80–100% in all the treatments. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the HSI and GSI of the fish. PUFA content and n3/n6 ratio were differed significantly in ETM fed fish. These results clearly indicate that earthworm had good effect on growth performance as well as fatty acid profile of fish.