A twelve (12) weeks feeding trial on nine hundred and sixty (960) African giant land snails (Archachatina marginata ) fed various leaves was evaluated. The snails were allotted randomly on their experimental diets. The experimental diets were domestic wastes designated as the control (T1), Centrosema pubescence leaves (T2), Moringa oleifera leaves (T3), and sweet potato leaves as (T4). Each treatment had two hundred and forty snails and was replicated four times with sixty snails each per replicate. The proximate compositions of these leaves were analyzed and showed significant values on the moisture content, crude protein, ether extracts, crude fiber, ash, and Nitrogen free extracts respectively. Data were collected on the performance, carcass characteristics, nutrient digestibility, proximate composition and minerals contents of snail meat. The results on the final weight, weight gain, average weight gain and FCR of snails showed that T4 (121.46, 36.10, 0.52g and 1.49 ) were significantly (p <0.05) different across treatment groups. Results on carcass characteristics showed that T4 had superior live weight, dressed weight, foot and dressing percentage values compared to the other groups. Also, T4 revealed significantly (p<0.05) different across the diets on nutrient digestibility, proximate compositions of snail meat and the mineral composition of the snail meat compared to the other treatments. The study concluded that T4 (sweet potato leaves) significantly influences the performance, carcass characteristic and mineral compositions of the snail meat and should be recommended as snail diet for optimum performance at an affordable cost.
A total of 200 fish samples (100 Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia) and 100 Oreochromis aureus (Blue tilapia)) were used for this research aimed to produce a population of tilapia species that is skewed toward the male population. Three mating periods were carried out in total. The males were removed from the hapa after each round of egg production to allow repercussion. Fries from the experimental units were collected, counted, and stocked in a tank with a dimension 3 x 1 x 4 m2 and were fed to satiation while maintaining the basic water quality. The sex ratio data were subjected to student t-test analysis, while that of growth parameters were examined by ANOVA on Spss version 25. Results obtained showed a true hybridization between Nile tilapia and Blue tilapia that produced offspring that skewed toward the male population. A male skewed population was produced through interspecific crossing of two related strains of tilapia. This pattern repeated itself throughout the times when mating pairing was initiated. At the end of the trials, the hybrids and their reciprocals produced a higher number of male fish compared to the female. Hybrid 1 produced 93% male, while hybrid 2 produced 71% male. Furthermore, better performance was recorded for the hybrids compared to their pure strain despite the lower feed intake. Conclusively, a male skewed population is best produced through interspecific crossing of two related strains of hybrid tilapia.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.