Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

HEMATOLOGICAL AND BODY INDICES OF PEARL SPOT (ETROPLUS SURATENSIS) REARED IN BIOFLOC SUPPLEMENTED WITH THREE DIFFERENT PROBIOTICS

P. Nageswari, Neelam Saharan, A.M. Babitha Rani, H. Sanath Kumar and N. Daniel

Abstract

In this study, the effect of three different probiotics supplemented in to biofloc on hematological and body index parameters of Etroplus suratensis over a period of 60 days was assessed. A total of 180 fishes with mean weight of 7.3 to 7.8 g were exposed to 6 different groups, viz. control (Clear water), T1 (Only biofloc), T2, T3, T4 consisting biofloc with Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactococcus lactis, respectively and T5 contains biofloc with mixture of all 3 probiotic strains. For the experiment, the biofloc was initially prepared and then probiotic strains added at final concentration of 106 CFU/mL. Experimental fishes reared in the biofloc treated with combination of probiotic bacteria caused statistically (P<0.05) higher values for total erythrocyte count (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) than the other treatments. But the result showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in the total leucocyte count (WBC), aematocrit value (HCL) and viscerosomatic index (VSI) among the different experimental groups. Results from this study suggest that mixture of probiotics supplemented to biofloc could have positive influence on certain haematological and body index parametersin Pearl spot, E. suratensis fingerlings.