Utilization of Soldier Termite (<i>Macrotermes bellicosus</i>) in Fish Feed Production in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Fishmeal is the conventional source of protein in fish feed but is very expensive thus alternate sources of protein with similar quality to fishmeal are advocated. Soldier termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) was used to totally replace fish meal and combined with other ingredients to form a novel feed called “Termite Meal” (TM) and compared with Conventional Meal (CM) to feed eighteen (18) juvenile Clarias gariepinus (26.33g; 7.76cm) in culture tanks. A total of thirty-six (36) C. gariepinus juveniles were used for the two trial feeds. Proximate composition of the TM and CF showed that TM was significantly (p<0.05) higher than CF in crude protein (49.7%; 43.5%), ash content (11.5%; 8.39%), crude fiber (6.0%; 4.5%) and total energy (3086.0 kcal/kg; 2646.5 kcal/kg). The CF was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the TM in crude lipid (6.6%; 5.9%) and carbohydrate (0.6%; 0.3%) respectively. Juvenile C. gariepinus fed TM recorded significant (p<0.05) final weight, weight gain, final length, length gain, specific growth rate, relative growth rate, feed and protein efficiency ratios but insignificant feed conversion ratio, condition factor, and survival rate throughout the feeding trials (3rd, 6th and 9th weeks). TM proved to be a good fish feed based on the recorded significant values of final weight, weight gain, final length, length gain, specific growth rate, relative growth rate, feed efficiency, and protein efficiency ratio. The study, therefore, suggests the total replacement of fishmeal with termite meal in fish feed production.