Haematological and serum biochemical reference intervals of juvenile African bonytongue fish (Heterotis niloticus. Cuvier, 1829) sampled from the river benue, Nigeria

Objective: Based on the potential clinical and management significance of selected hematological serum biochemistry parameters, study aimed to establish reference ranges for juvenile Heterotis niloticus  (African bonytongue fish) a fish with significant aquaculture in Africa. Design procedure: Hematology biochemical were determined blood samples obtained from 243 healthy sampled three locations along Benue River its adjoining wetlands. The using Shapiro Wilk test guidelines national committee laboratory standards. Results:  Hematological are; packed cell volume 19 – 27 %; hemoglobin concentration 3.1– 6.4 g/dL; total erythrocytes count 1.59×106 2.92 ×106 µ/L; leucocytes counts 4.97× 103 5.40 × mean corpuscular 113.7 218.7 fL; haemoglobin 25.06 28.85 pg; 12.61– 20.27 g/dL. Serum glucose, 51.0 89.50 mg/dL; protein 56.5 79.50 g/L; globulin 11.5 15.50 albumin 32.88 69.35 aspartate amino transferase 79.2 98.3 U/L; alanine 24.78 46.0 U/L. Alkaline phosphatase 28.75 57.25 creatinine 80.0 urea 13.1 17.10 mg/dL uric acid 1.90 2.30 mg/dL. Conclusion Clinical Relevance: These data will provide clinically useful information diagnosis, treatment prognostication intervention or outcomes culture zootechnical natural water bodies.