Effects of sub-lethal concentrations of corexit 9500® dispersant on growth and condition factor of juvenile Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822), Rivers state, Nigeria

Abstract

The effects of sub-lethal concentrations of Corexit 9500 on growth and condition factor of juveniles of Clarias gariepinus was investigated after 21days, in 2018. 160 fishes were used as test organisms with a loading of 10/treatment and were exposed to 0.00, 0.0125, 0.025 and 0.05 ml/L concentrations of Corexit 9500. Treatments were in triplicate and Complete Randomised Design was adopted. The growth in length and weight of C. gariepinus was significantly higher in the control than the test treatments (P<0.05). The increase in weight of the control was significantly different from the three treatments. Temperature was not significantly different (P>0.05); however, the DO of control was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the treatments, with the lowest DO in the 0.05ml/l treatment. pH was acidic for all treatments including the control but was more acidic with increasing concentration of Corexit 9500. The pH value for each treatment was significantly different (P<0.05). The conductivity was significantly different from each other (P<0.05) with higher values at the 0.025 ml/L concentrations. The condition factor (K) decreased with increasing toxicant concentration and was significantly different (P<0.05) at 0.0125ml/L and at Weeks 2 and 3 of 0.05 ml/L. Corexit 9500 dispersants should be appropriately assessed before deployment, and their use near fish breeding grounds should be avoided.

Key words: Clarias gariepinus, dispersant, growth, physicochemical parameters, sub-lethal