Effects of Rhizopus extract administration on somatic growth and sexual maturation in lacustrine sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka

ABSTRACT: The filamentous fungi Rhizopus , like many fungal species, possesses physiologically active substances. Rhizopus extract (RU) is reported to be effective for various aspects of growth and reproduction in many vertebrates. The effects of RU administration on body growth and plasma levels of steroid hormones were investigated in lacustrine sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka . One-year-old fish were fed daily with RU (20 mg/kg feed) from July 1999 to October 2000 for 15 months. Fish were sampled every month and plasma levels of testosterone (T), 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), estradiol-17β (E₂) and 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DHP) were measured by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay. Body growth of RU-fed fish of both sexes increased significantly in 1⁺ and 2⁺ October, and 2⁺ January–March and July. All RU-fed males and one female matured in 2⁺ October. RU-fed 1⁺ precociously mature males showed increased plasma levels of T, 11-KT and DHP in 1⁺ October. In 2⁺ males, RU significantly elevated plasma levels of T from May to June, 11-KT from June to July, and DHP in October. In sockeye salmon, administration of RU accelerated body growth of both sexes and sexual maturation in males, suggesting physiologically active substances present in RU enhance somatic growth and sexual maturation by sex-specific mechanisms.     

Continuous exposure to infectious pancreatic necrosis virus during early life stages of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), were exposed continuously to infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) at 0, 10¹, 10³ or 10⁵ plaque forming units (pfu) L⁻¹ of water to estimate the effects of chronic IPNV exposure on early life stages. Fish density averaged 35 fish L⁻¹ (low density) or 140 fish L⁻¹ (high density), and the tank flow rate was 250 mL⁻¹ min. Virus exposure began at 6 days before hatch and continued until fish were 44 days old. Cumulative per cent mortality, analysis of survival and hazard functions, and discrete-time event analysis were used to explore the patterns of survival and mortality. In eggs and fish exposed to IPNV, mortality significantly greater than in the 0 pfu L⁻¹ exposure did not occur until IPNV concentration was 10⁵ pfu L⁻¹ at low fish density and 10³ pfu IPNV L⁻¹ at high fish density. These results suggest that in the natural aquatic environment, where rainbow trout densities are likely to be considerably lower than in this study, mortality resulting from infection with IPNV will very likely not occur when ambient concentrations of virus are ≤10³ pfu IPNV L⁻¹. In aquaculture rearing units, trout density is likely to be as high or higher than the densities used in this study. Therefore, continuous inputs of virus at concentrations greater than 10¹ pfu L⁻¹ may result in IPN epidemics in aquaculture facilities.     

Binding characteristics of the Zn-binding membrane protein from common carp

ABSTRACT:    This study incorporated the 43 kDa Zn-binding membrane protein isolated from common carp into liposome. The specificity and strength of the binding of ⁶⁵Zn to the 43 kDa protein-liposomes, and the binding of the ⁶⁵Zn-labeled 43 kDa protein-liposomes to laminin were studied. It was found that ⁶⁵Zn was bound to the external side of the 43 kDa protein-liposomes. Specific binding of ⁶⁵Zn to the protein-liposomes was detected. The binding parameter of Zn to the protein was found to be: maximum binding site (N_max), 76.7 pmole/µg protein (approx. 3 mole of Zn²⁺/mole); and equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd), 0.19 µM. Of the cations introduced (Ca²⁺, Cd²⁺,Co²⁺, Cr²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Hg²⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺), only Co²⁺ competed significantly with Zn. The protein-liposomes were also found to bind specifically to laminin with a N_max of 1.1 pmole/µg laminin, and Kd of 4.79 µM. No significant protein-liposome binding occurred to other extracellular matrix proteins (fibronectin, fibrinogen or vitronectin). Furthermore, the binding was specifically inhibited by the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide or GRGDSPG, while two other analogs (GRGESPG and GRADSPG) were without effect.     

Metabolic costs of changing the cation–anion difference in the diet of juvenile African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell)

The influence of dietary cation–anion difference (CAD, Na⁺ + K⁺– Cl^–, mEq kg^–1) on energy metabolism and nitrogen losses in juvenile African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell) was examined in fish exposed to different dietary CAD levels (–146, 116, 497, 713 and 828 mEq kg^–1 diet). The experiment was conducted in open circuit balance respiration chambers over a 3-week period. Five 24-h monitoring periods were carried out at 3-day intervals during the experimental period with O₂ consumption, ammonia and nitrate + nitrite (NO_x) and CO₂ production being measured at 5-min intervals for each chamber. The negative dietary CAD (–146 mEq kg^–1) resulted in the highest energy expenditures (83 kJ kg^–0.8· d^–1). With increasing dietary CAD levels, heat loss gradually decreased to minimum values of 56 kJ kg^–0.8 day^–1 at a dietary CAD level of 713 mEq kg^–1. Consequently, metabolizable energy utilization efficiency (MEU, percentage of retained energy over metabolizable energy) quadratically ( P  < 0.05) increased and reached a maximum at a dietary CAD of 713 mEq kg^–1.     

Natural abundance of 15N and 13C in fish tissues and the use of stable isotopes as dietary protein tracers in rainbow trout and gilthead sea bream

For developing efficient diets, two sets of experiments examined whether the use and allocation of dietary protein can be traced by labelling with stable isotopes (¹⁵N and ¹³C) in two culture fish ( Oncorhynchus mykiss and Sparus aurata) . In the first experiment, natural abundance and tissue distribution of these isotopes were determined, by measuring the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values by isotopic ratio mass spectrometry, in fingerlings (14–17 g) adapted to diets differing in the percentage of fish meal replacement by plant protein sources. For both species, δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C were greater in tissues with higher protein and lower lipid content. Delta ¹⁵N of diets and tissues decreased as replacement increased, suggesting δ¹⁵N can be used as a marker for dietary protein origin. The ¹⁵N fractionation (δ¹⁵N fish − δ¹⁵N diet) differed between groups, and could thus be used to indicate protein catabolism. In the second experiment, fish (75–90 g) of each species ingested a diet enriched with ¹⁵N-protein (10 g kg⁻¹ diet) and ¹³C-protein (30 g kg⁻¹ diet). These proportions were suitable for determining that the delta values of tissue components were high enough above natural levels to allow protein allocation to be traced at 11 and 24 h after feeding, and revealed clear metabolic differences between species.     

Changes in skin colour and cortisol response of Australian snapper Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) to different background colours

A two-factor experiment was carried out to investigate the change in skin colour and plasma cortisol response of cultured Australian snapper Pagrus auratus to a change in background colour. Snapper (mean weight=437 g) were held in black or white tanks and fed diets containing 39 mg unesterified astaxanthin kg⁻¹ for 49 days before being transferred from white tanks to black cages (WB) or black tanks to white cages (BW). Skin colour values [ L ^* (lightness), a ^* (redness) and b ^* (yellowness)] of all snapper were measured at stocking ( t =0 days) and from cages of fish randomly assigned to each sampling time at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 days. Plasma cortisol was measured in anaesthetized snapper following colour measurements at 0, 1 and 7 days. Fish from additional black-to-black (BB) and white-to-white (WW) control treatments were also sampled for colour and cortisol at those times. Rapid changes occurred in skin lightness ( L ^* values) after altering background colour with maximum change in L ^* values for BW and WB treatments occurring within 1 day. Skin redness ( a ^*) of BW snapper continued to steadily decrease over the 7 days ( a ^*=7.93 × e^{−0.051 × time}). Plasma cortisol concentrations were highest at stocking when fish were held at greater densities and were not affected by cage colour. The results of this study suggest that transferring dark coloured snapper to white cages for 1 day is sufficient to affect the greatest benefit in terms of producing light coloured fish while minimizing the reduction in favourable red skin colouration.     

Linear models to predict the digestible lipid content of fish diets

Values for the digestible contents of nutrients in diets and feed ingredients are of utmost importance in nutritional strategies for fish. Prediction from dietary composition would eliminate lengthy, tedious and demanding digestibility experiments with fish. Apparent digestible lipid (DL) content [range 7.6–353.4 g kg⁻¹ dry matter (DM)] in compound diets can be predicted with high accuracy ( n  = 610; studies =127; fish species = 34; R ² = 0.9515; RMSE = 16.9504) from dietary crude lipid (CL) content (range 12.0–388.7 g kg⁻¹ DM) by the linear regression equation DL =−2.7303 + 0.9123 CL. Validation of this equation against 65 values from 15 independent studies presented R ² and mean prediction error (MPE) values of 0.9947 and 0.0671, respectively. The corresponding equation for 37 individual feed ingredients evaluated in 24 studies with 18 fish species ( n  = 180) was found to be DL = −1.5824 + 0.8654 CL ( R ² = 0.9717; RMSE = 8.3765). However, validation of the latter is currently hampered by a lack of independent values.     

Effect of water temperature on the growth performance and digestive enzyme activities of Chinese longsnout catfish (Leiocassis longirostris Günther)

The present study was carried out to investigate the influence of water temperature on the growth performance and digestive enzyme (pepsin, trypsin and lipase) activities of Chinese longsnout catfish. Triplicate groups of Chinese longsnout catfish (35.6±0.48 g, mean±SE) were reared at different water temperatures (20, 24, 28 and 32 °C). The feeding rate (FR), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency ratio (FER) were significantly affected by water temperatures and regression relationships between water temperature and FI, SGR as well as FER were expressed as FR=−0.016 T ²+0.91 T −10.88 ( n =12, R ²=0.8752), SGR=−0.026 T ²+1.39 T −17.29 ( n =12, R ²=0.7599) and FER=−0.013 T ²+0.70 T −8.43 ( n =12, R ²=0.7272). Based on these, the optimum temperatures for FR, SGR and FER were 27.66, 26.69 and 26.44 °C respectively. The specific activities of digestive enzymes at 24 or 28 °C were significantly higher than that at 20 or 32 °C. In addition, there was a significant linear regression between FR or SGR and specific activities of pepsin and lipase, which indicated that pepsin and lipase played important roles in regulating growth through nutrient digestion in Chinese longsnout catfish.     

Lymphocystis disease virus persists in the epidermal tissues of olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus (Temminch & Schlegel), at low temperatures

Olive flounder artificially infected with lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) were reared at 10, 20 and 30 °C for 60 days, to compare LCD-incidence. In the fish reared at 20 °C, lymphocystis cells appeared on the skin and fins at 35 days post-challenge, and the cumulative LCD-incidence was 80% at 60 days. High levels of LCDV, with a mean polymerase chain reaction (PCR) titre of 10⁶ PCR-U mg⁻¹ tissue, were detected in the fins and skin of LCD-affected fish at 20 °C, but were not detected in the spleen, kidney, brain and intestinal tissues of these fish. No LCD clinical signs were observed in the fish reared at 10 °C and 30 °C; however, a low level of LCDV (10³ PCR-U mg⁻¹ tissue) was detected in the fins and skin of these fish. By increasing the rearing temperature from 10 to 20 °C, lymphocystis clusters appeared on the skin and fins of the fish with no previous LCD clinical signs within 33 days after the temperature change. It was shown that permissive cells for LCDV infection exist in the epidermis of olive flounder. At low temperatures, small amounts of LCDV were able to persist over a period extended for a further 45 days in the fish epidermis, even though the fish showed no LCD clinical signs. The optimum growth temperature of LCDV is near 20 °C.     

Insight into nucleotide and Ca<Superscript>2+</Superscript> binding to carp α-actin

ABSTRACT:   Nucleotides and Ca²⁺ binding to α-actin prepared from ordinary skeletal muscle of carp Cyprinus carpio was studied. When bound Ca²⁺ was removed with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, carp α-actin denatured more rapidly than chicken α-actin. Kinetic studies of the denaturation process showed that in the absence of divalent cations, the binding constants of ATP to carp and chicken actin were 5.0 × 10⁴/M and 1.2 × 10⁵/M, respectively. Competitive binding of Ca²⁺ between actin and 8-amino-2-[(2-amino-5-methylphenoxy)methyl]-6-methoxyquinoline-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (Quin 2) showed that affinity of Ca²⁺ for carp actin was also lower than that for chicken actin by a factor of 1.6. These results indicated that carp actin could relatively easily denature due to the low affinities of these ligands. Enthalpy changes upon ATP binding to carp and chicken actin were −65 kJ/mol and −110 kJ/mol, respectively. Thermodynamic analyses of our results revealed that the entropy change associated with ATP binding to carp actin was significantly smaller than that to chicken actin, suggesting that structural stabilization upon ATP binding was less effective in carp actin.     

Visual acuity of Pacific Saury <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cololabis saira</Emphasis> for understanding capture process

ABSTRACT:   To understand the mechanism of the behavioral response in the capture process of how fish recognize fishing gear and then how they can avoid the gear, the visual acuity of Pacific saury Cololabis saira was investigated by histological examination of the retina of individuals in the size range of 75–365 mm fork length (FL). The contour map of cone density distribution shows that the highest cone density is located in the temporal area of the retina, which indicated the visual axis as the forward direction. The visual acuity (VA) depends both on the focal length of the lens and the number of cones in the retina. The lens diameter increased linearly from 1.40 to 4.73 mm with fish growth, while the cone density decreased gradually from 765 to 378 cells/0.01 mm². Our results show that the visual acuity increases proportionately from 0.057 to 0.140 for individuals ranging in FL from 75 to 365 mm as expressed by the equation VA  = 0.0065 ×  FL ^0.5271 ( r ² = 0.9624).     

Age,growth and maturation of the redbelly tilapia <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tilapia zillii</Emphasis> introduced into the Haebaru Reservoir on Okinawa-jima Island

ABSTRACT:   The age, growth and maturation of the redbelly tilapia Tilapia zillii introduced into the Haebaru Reservoir on Okinawa-jima Island were studied using 2197 specimens ranging from 7.3 to 168.0 mm standard length (SL). The spawning season was estimated to be from April to August, with a peak in April and May. The first maturation sizes of females and males were estimated to be 38.1 and 33.0 mm SL, respectively. The opaque zones in otoliths that form annually were found to correlate with the spawning season. Maximum ages of females and males were 7 and 6 years, respectively. The von Bertalanffy growth formulae were expressed as: L _t  = 99{1 − exp[−0.67( t  + 0.09)]} for females and L _t  = 155{1 − exp [−0.36( t  + 0.12)]} for males. Males grew to be larger than females from the first year onward. Populations of this species are characterized by early maturation life history parameters and are thought to adapt and become established quickly after being released into new water systems. Furthermore, extermination activity in winter is thought to be an effective strategy before the newly recruited fish begin breeding in the warmer months.     

An experimental investigation on aspects of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) infection dynamics in seawater Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.

This study investigated infection dynamics of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) by conducting two experiments to examine minimum infective dose and viral shedding of ISAV. In terms of minimum infective dose, the high variability between replicate tanks and the relatively slow spread of infection through the population at 1 × 10¹ TCID₅₀ mL⁻¹ indicated this dose is approaching the minimum infective dose for ISAV in seawater salmon populations. A novel qPCR assay incorporating an influenza virus control standard with each seawater sample was developed that enabled the quantity of ISAV shed from infected populations to be estimated in values equivalent to viral titres. Viral shedding was first detected at 7 days post-challenge (5.8 × 10⁻² TCID₅₀ mL⁻¹ kg⁻¹) and rose to levels above the minimum infective dose (4.2 × 10¹ TCID₅₀ mL⁻¹ kg⁻¹) on day 11 post-challenge, 2 days before mortalities in ISAV inoculated fish started. These results clearly demonstrate that a large viral shedding event occurs before death. Viral titres peaked at 7.0 × 10¹ TCID₅₀ mL⁻¹ kg⁻¹ 15 days post-infection. These data provide important information relevant to the management of ISA.     

Temporal variation of seasonality of egg production and the spawning biomass of Pacific anchovy, Engraulis japonicus, in the southern waters of Korea in 1983–1994

Embryonic mortality, egg production and the spawning stock biomass of Pacific anchovy, Engraulis japonicus , off Southern Korea during 1983–1994, and their biological response to oceanographic features in spring and summer, were analysed. The instantaneous mortality rate (IMR) of embryonic stages decreased in spring and increased in summer, with a range of 0.33–1.23 day^–1 in spring and 0.78–1.69 day^–1 in summer. Egg production in summer was three times that during spring and production was low in the late 1980s. Mean lengths of yolk-sac larvae and adult females were greater in spring than in summer, whereas spawning fraction and spawning stock ratio (spawning biomass:adult biomass) were lower in spring than summer. Estimated mean spawning stock biomass ranged from 141 × 10³ to 380 × 10³ MT in spring and from 221 × 10³ to 557 × 10³ MT in summer. Statistically, the seasonal and long-term trends of embryonic mortality, egg production and spawning stock biomass of Pacific anchovy can be explained largely by spring warming, summer cooling and by less abundant zooplankton in the late 1980s.     

Herpesviral haematopoietic necrosis virus (CyHV-2) infection: case studies from commercial goldfish farms

Herpesviral haematopoietic necrosis is a disease of goldfish, Carassius auratus , caused by Cyprinid herpesvirus-2 (CyHV-2) infection. Quantitative PCR was carried out on tissue homogenates from healthy goldfish fingerlings, broodfish, eggs and fry directly sampled from commercial farms, from moribund fish submitted to our laboratory for disease diagnosis, and on naturally-infected CyHV-2 carriers subjected to experimental stress treatments. Healthy fish from 14 of 18 farms were positive with copy numbers ranging from tens to 10⁷ copies μg⁻¹ DNA extracted from infected fish. Of 118 pools of broodfish tested, 42 were positive. The CyHV-2 was detected in one lot of fry produced from disinfected eggs. Testing of moribund goldfish, in which we could not detect any other pathogens, produced 12 of 30 cases with 10⁶–10⁸ copies of CyHV-2 μg⁻¹ DNA extracted. Subjecting healthy CyHV-2 carriers to cold shock (22–10 °C) but not heat, ammonia or high pH, increased viral copy numbers from mean copy number (±SE) of 7.3 ± 11 to 394 ± 55 μg⁻¹ DNA extracted after 24 h. CyHV-2 is widespread on commercial goldfish farms and outbreaks apparently occur when healthy carriers are subjected to a sharp temperature drop followed by holding at the permissive temperature for the disease.     

A sensitive FRET probe assay for the selective detection of Mycobacterium marinum in fish

Mycobacterium marinum is the causative agent of mycobacteriosis in wild and cultured fish and of atypical infection in humans. For the diagnosis of M. marinum , cultural and traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods are currently used. However, these protocols, although able to discriminate within Mycobacterium spp., have proved to be time-consuming or difficult to carry out. For this reason, the aim of this study was to obtain a rapid and specific diagnostic tool to quantify fish Mycobacterium spp. or to discriminate M. marinum from other mycobacteria. A primary PCR amplification with SYBR Green had a detection limit (dl) of 10² Mycobacterium DNA copies with a log-linear quantification range up to 10⁴ ( R ² = 0.99). The second PCR using FRET probes, flanking a region containing species specific nucleotide variations, was designed and validated with synthetic erp gene fragments corresponding to different mycobacterial species, different whole mycobacteria suspensions, experimentally infected fish tissues, tissues from experimentally infected fish, and samples of cultured fish. The results show that the FRET probes demonstrate a high specificity as the melting curve analysis allowed efficient discrimination of M. marinum from Mycobacterium chelonae , Mycobacterium fortuitum , Mycobacterium pseudoshottsii , Mycobacterium shottsii and Mycobacterium ulcerans . The kidney is the organ with the strongest detection signal and using fish tissues the method has a mean sensitivity of 50 DNA copies/PCR.     

Using Efinol®L during transportation of marbled hatchetfish, Carnegiella strigata (Günther)

The objective of this experiment was to test the efficacy of a probiotic (Efinol^®L) during transportation of marbled hatchetfish, Carnegiella strigata . Wild specimens were captured from a small stream and transported for 24 h in plastic fish boxes with a probiotic (10 mg L⁻¹) and probiotic-free water. The boxes were sampled at 3, 12 and 24 h of transport. At the end of the experiment, the survival rate was close to 100% in both treatments. Dissolved oxygen diminished with time in both treatments, but the probiotic group had significantly higher levels. Conductivity, pH and ammonia increased significantly during the transport, demonstrating higher levels in the probiotic-free group. Fish from both treatments presented very high net Na⁺ and K⁺ effluxes after 3 h of transport. At 24 h, net K⁺ effluxes in fish of the probiotic treatment reached values close to zero and a significantly lower Na⁺ efflux was observed. Cortisol levels in both treatments at 3 and 12 h were significantly higher than that in control samples. Higher body cortisol levels were observed in the probiotic-free group than that in the probiotic group at 3 and 12 h. The results demonstrate that addition of a probiotic during fish transport improves water quality and leads to fish presenting a lower stress response intensity.     

A dietary energy level of 14.6 MJ kg−1 and protein-to-energy ratio of 20.2 g MJ−1 results in best growth performance and nutrient accretion in silver barb Puntius gonionotus fingerlings

Five iso-nitrogenous (300 g protein kg⁻¹ diet) and iso-lipidic (80 g kg⁻¹ diet) semi-purified experimental diets with variable energy levels of 10.5 (D-1), 12.5 (D-2), 14.6 (D-3), 16.7 (D-4) and 18.8 (D-5) MJ kg⁻¹ diets were fed to Puntius gonionotus fingerlings (average weight 1.79 ± 0.02 g) in triplicate groups (15 healthy fishes per replicate) for a period of 90 days to assess the optimum dietary energy level and protein-to-energy ratio (P/E). Fifteen flow-through cement tanks of 100 L capacity with a flow rate of 0.5 L min⁻¹ were used for rearing the fish. Maximum specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, protein productive value, RNA : DNA ratio, whole body protein content, digestive enzyme activity and minimum feed conversion ratio was found in fish-fed diet D-3 with 14.6 MJ kg⁻¹ energy level. There were no improvements in all these parameters with the further rise in dietary energy level. Hence, it may be concluded that the optimum dietary gross energy level for maximum growth and nutrient utilization of silver barb is 14.6 MJ kg⁻¹ diet with a resultant P/E ratio of 20.2 g protein MJ⁻¹ diet, when the dietary protein and lipid are maintained at optimum requirement levels of 300 and 80 g kg⁻¹ diet, respectively, for this species.     

Effects of the probiotic, Lactobacillus acidophilus, on the growth performance, haematology parameters and immunoglobulin concentration in African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell 1822) fingerling

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of the probiotic, Lactobacillus acidophilus , on the growth performance, haematology parameters and immunoglobulin concentration in African catfish Clarias gariepinus fingerling. Two experimental diets were formulated to contain 35 g kg⁻¹ crude protein and 10 g kg⁻¹ lipids accordingly and fed three times daily for 12 weeks to 25 C. gariepinus fingerlings per fibreglass tank in 12 replicates each. The control diet was prepared with no probiotic supplementation whereas the second diet was prepared supplemented with a probiotic, L. acidophilus , containing about 3.01 × 10⁷ colonies/g of diet. The results show that growth performance [specific growth rate (SGR) and relative growth rate (RGR)], nutrient utilization [protein efficiency ratio (PER) and feed conversion ratio (FCR)] and survival were significantly ( P <0.05) higher in fish maintained on the probiotic-supplemented diet compared with those on the control diet. Haematology parameters (packed cell volume, haemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, red blood cell and white blood cell, total serum protein, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl⁻, glucose and cholesterol) and total immunoglobulin concentrations were also significantly better in fish fed the probiotic-supplemented diet than in the control. Although the water quality parameters monitored were better in the fish fed the probiotic-supplemented diet than in the control, the parameters were not significantly different ( P >0.05). From the results of this experiment, we conclude that L. acidophilus can be used as a probiotic agent in African catfish culture, to enhance fish health, survival and better feed efficiency and growth performance.