Determination of Survival and Growth Performance of the Progenies of Broodstock of C. gariepinus from three eco-regions in Nigeria: River Niger (N), River Benue (B) and River Hadejia (H)

The study was designed and experimented on the determination of survival and growth performance of the progenies from three eco-regions: River Niger (N), River Benue (B) and River hadejia (H). One hundred hatchlings from each broodstock group for each cross were selected randomly and reared in plastic tanks (60L) for eight weeks using four replicates in each case. These were fed to satiation twice a day (morning: 08:00H and afternoon: 16:00H) using commercial feed (Bluecrown). The experiment lasted for fifty-six days and mean fish weight in each tank was determined every week beginning from the day they were stocked. Waste removal was done via siphoning every three days. For sampling, fish in each tank were weighed in bulk on a sensitive balance using the wet sampling method. After the 56 days period, the surviving juveniles were counted and all fish from the tank were weighed in bulk. Progeny produced were subjected to grow-out for eight weeks (two broodstock sizes). Data for growth and survival (8 weeks) were analysed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test with treatments as appropriate. There was a significant effect (p<0.05) of cross on the mean final weight (MFW) under eight weeks of culture among offspring from broodstock >1.0kg with the cross ♀B×H♂ having the highest MFW of 7.74g while the cross ♀N×N♂ had the least MFW of 5.27g. Among progeny of broodstock <1.0kg, there was a significant effect (p<0.05) of cross on the mean final weight (MFW) with the cross ♀H×B♂ having the highest MFW of 8.42g while the cross ♀N×N♂ had the least MFW of 5.16g.It was concluded that determination of survival and growth performance of the progenies from three eco-regions: River Niger (N), River Benue (B) and River hadejia (H) were enormous.