The effects of dietary Zhumeria majdae extract on growth indices, hematology and immunology of catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus

Low survival at early stages of life is of great concern for fish culturists. Considering the effects of herbal immunostimulants on innate immune response and growth improvement of aquatic animals, the impacts of a native herb of Hormozgan province named Zhumeria majdae extract on growth indices and immunology of catfish fingerlings Pangasianodon hypophthalmus with mean weight of 1.27±0.24 were investigated. Fish were fed diets supplemented with Z. majdae extract at 0 (control group), 150 (treatment 1), 300 (treatment 2) and 600 (treatment 3) mg/kg diet for 45 days. After the feeding trial, fish growth, hematology and immunology parameters were analyzed using Duncan test. Fish growth parameters including FER, DGI and SGR were not significantly different between treatments at days 15, 30 and 45. Survival percentage in all treatments supplemented with herb extract was 100%. The highest haematocrit level was at treatment 3 (46.67±7.64%), The highest number of RBC (3.10±0.6×106) and WBC (7.40±0.3×103) and also the highest amount of total protein and albumin was at control group, the highest amount of hemoglobin, MCV and MCH was at treatment 1 and the highest NBT and MCHC value was at treatment 2. In white blood cell differential count, the highest percentage of neutrophil was observed in control group, the highest percentage of lymphosyte in treatment 1 and the highest percentage of monocyte in treatment 3 .The amount of lysozyme was significantly different with the highest amount at treatments 3 and control, respectively and the lowest in treatment 2 (p<0.05).