Effects of different dietary levels of vitamin E supplementation on the growth and gonadal development of Climbing Perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792)

Abstract

Vitamin E is one of the most important micronutrients that influence the performance of fish reproduction. The experiment was carried out for 3 months in aquarium with recirculation facilities in the wet laboratory adjacent to the Faculty of Fisheries, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University to observe the effects of different dietary level of vitamin E on growth and gonadal development of Anabus testudineus. One and half months aged 300 A. testudineus were stocked and divided into five treatments each having three replicates. The fish were fed with feed having different levels of vitamin E viz. 0 mg (as control), 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg vitamin E/kg feed as treatment 1 to treatment 5, respectively. Fish fed with 50 mg vitamin E/kg feed (under T2) showed highest (9.12±0.23 g) weight gain in terms of body growth while fishes treated with 0 mg vitamin E kg-1 feed under (under T1) gave the poorest result (6.85±1.32 g). There was no significant differences (p= 0.184) between the treatment groups. Gonadosomatic index (%) was highest (0.696±0.44) in fish treated with 100 mg vitamin E/kg feed (under T3) while 400 mg vitamin E/kg (under T5) showed the poorest effect (0.311±0.03). No significant difference (p= 0.233) was found between the treatment groups. The overall result of this experiment suggests that inclusion of 100 mg vitamin E/kg feed is the best dose for enhancing the gonadal development of A. testudineus fish. The findings indicated that vitamin E content has a positive impact on gonadal development of this species. The present results also imply that inclusion of higher level of vitamin E exerts an antagonistic effect in terms of growth and gonadal development of this species.