Effects of dietary prebiotic MHF-Y and starvation on the compensatory growth, survival, and some hematological parameters in common carp Cyprinus carpio fry

This study aimed to determine the effects of dietary prebiotic Mito (MHF-Y) on compensatory growth common carp Cyprinus carpio fry (n= 300; 4.5 ± 0.05 g) following one week starvation. The experiment was conducted within 60 days with three triplicate treatments: a control fed with non-prebiotic diet with no starvation period (T1), a 2nd group starved for one week then fed 2.0 g of prebiotic per kg diet (T2), and the 3rd one received no prebiotic following one week starvation (T3). The results showed the highest final weight and length in the control followed by T2 (P< 0.05). T1 and T2 gained the greatest (0.81 ± 0.00 and 0.57 ± 0.01 d−1, respectively) specific growth rate (SGR). The condition factor significantly increased (1.8 ± 0.11) in T3 while T1 and T2 were not different in this respect (P > 0.05). The lowest (2.26 ± 0.02 and 2.59 ± 0.1) feed conversion ratio (FCR) and highest (1.2 ± 0.04 and 1.38 ± 0.01) protein efficiency ratio (PER) were recorded in T1 and T2, respectively. Numbers of red blood cells were similar in the three treatments (P > 0.05). Hemoglobin and hematocrit were utmost in T3 and T1, respectively. T2 contained the highest (13800 ± 600) number of white blood cells (WBC). The treatments were not different in WBC differential counts of basophils, eosinophils, and monocytes. The greatest (77.59 ± 1.00) and lowest (74.33 ± 0.57) amounts of lymphocytes, respectively, were detected in T2 and T1. The results show that the addition of 2% of prebiotic Mito in the diet of carp fry could not improve their growth performance, it, however, could give rise to better results compared with T3 that fed no prebiotic after starvation; in addition, the fry in T2 showed the best results concerning improved immunity.

Keywords:

Common carp , Prebiotic Mito , Blood factors , Compensatory growth