Preliminary assessment of black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) larval meal in the diet of African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ): Impact on growth, body index, and hematological parameters

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) larval meal (BSF) in practical diets of African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ). Four diets were formulated to contain levels of fishmeal replacement at 0, 25, 50, and 100% with BSF. A total of 360 fingerlings (2.67 ± 0.0 g/fish) were randomly distributed into 12 tanks (30‐L capacity) containing 30 fish each and fed with the respective diet to apparent satiation. After 6 weeks of feeding, growth performance and nutrient utilization indices of the groups fed 25 and 50% BSF diets were not significantly different ( p > .05) from the group fed the fishmeal‐based control diet. However, further increase in the replacement of fishmeal with BSF (100%) led to a significant ( p < .05) reduction in the growth, feed intake, and protein efficiency ratio of the catfish, whereas body index and survival were not affected. The hematological parameters among the BSF fed groups showed no significant variation ( p > .05) compared with the control group. From the current study, it was clear that fishmeal could be replaced with BSF up to 50% without affecting the growth performance, nutrient utilization, survival, and welfare of C. gariepinus fingerlings.