Aquaculture industry faces challenges in feed availability and quality while striving for sustainability. Traditional fish feeds contribute to overfishing and deforestation, necessitating alternative protein sources. This study investigated the effects of incorporating Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae into African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles’ diets, examining hematological responses, gut ecology, antioxidant status, and histopathological changes. The experiment used 105 C. gariepinus juveniles across five dietary treatments: 100% commercial diet (control), 60% commercial diet with 40% BSF larvae, 80% commercial diet with 20% BSF larvae, 100% BSF larvae, and 100% formulated diet.
Hematological parameters showed no significant differences across treatments. The highest (2043.40±34.27) and lowest (1913.61±3.02) villi height were observed in treatment 1 and 2 respectively. The highest (204.53±1.43)) and lowest (191.58±0.07)) villi width were observed in treatment 1 and 2 respectively. The highest value for muscle thickness was obtained in treatment 2 (343.71±16.17) while the lowest was in treatment 4 (218.38±1.44). Treatment 5 had the highest value was in total protein, globulin and ALP respectively, treatment 1 had the highest value in Albumin, A:G ratio, AST and creatinine respectively and treatment 3 had the highest value in BUN. Histopathological examination revealed no intestinal lesions, but moderate hepatocyte swelling was observed in some BSF-containing diets in livers and it also showed varying degrees of tubular epithelial changes and inflammation in BSF-containing diets in the kidney.
The study concludes that BSF larvae can be incorporated into African catfish diets without major negative impacts on hematology, serum biochemistry, or intestinal health.