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Sex‐Reversal Effect of Dietary Aloe vera (Liliaceae) on Genetically Improved Farmed Nile Tilapia Fry
Author(s) -
Gabriel Ndakalimwe Naftal,
Qiang Jun,
Ma Xin Yu,
He Jie,
Xu Pao,
Omoregie Edosa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
north american journal of aquaculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.432
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1548-8454
pISSN - 1522-2055
DOI - 10.1080/15222055.2016.1236046
Subject(s) - aloe vera , nile tilapia , biology , oreochromis , tilapia , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , veterinary medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , toxicology , fishery , botany , medicine
We evaluated the hypothesis that administering dietary Aloe vera to sexually undifferentiated fry of genetically improved farmed Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus for 30 d would affect their sex ratio. Five experimental treatments were designed, including a control and 100% A. vera powder incorporated into the feed at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0%. After 30 d of feeding, the experimental diets were replaced with a commercial diet, which was administered to the fish for another 42 d to attain the size at which sex determination was possible. Based on logistic regression analysis, an increase in the A. vera inclusion level from 1.0% to 4.0% resulted in a significantly greater percentage of males compared to the control and the 0.5% A. vera inclusion level, with the 4.0% A. vera group presenting potent masculinization effects (67.62% male). However, the survival percentage among fish that received 4.0% A. vera was significantly lower than survival in the other groups. The present results indicate that A. vera extracts have the potential to be used as sex‐reversal agents in Nile Tilapia culture, but additional studies are necessary.