Comparative Study on the Natural and Synthetic Hormones ofClarias gariepinus Broodstock

The study was carried out for six (6) weeks at the Department of Fisheries Teaching and Research farm, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, to compare the reproductive performance of Clarias gariepinus using synthetic (ovaprim) and natural (C. gariepinus pituitary extract) hormones . At the end of the feeding trial, the fecundity, percentage fertilization, hatchability, and survival rates of the hatchlings were estimated using standard procedure. The hatchlings were further raised for six weeks and the increase in weight was determined. The results showed that female broodstock injected with C. gariepinus pituitary extract (CgPE) had a higher fecundity (124,000) while the female injected with Ovaprim had 65,000 eggs. The weight of the testes significantly differed (p<0.05) across the treatments, the right lobe weighed 1.63g while the left lobe weighed 1.98g . Subsequently, a higher fertilization rate was recorded in CgPE (91.1%) while Ovaprim had 85.55% . However, Ovaprim had a higher percentage hatchability of 82.93% while CgPE had 82.73% . At the end of the six (6) weeks feeding period, the survival rate was higher in the fish treated with CgPE (82.31%) while the fish injected with Ovaprim had 79.68% . The research exposed the efficacy of using CgPE in the absence of synthetic hormone, CgPE is a preferred substitute that Hatchery managers can utilize for fingerlings production.