15 Journal of Fisheries Science | Volume 04 | Issue 02 | September 2022 Journal of Fisheries Science https://ojs.bilpublishing.com/index.php/jfs Copyright © 2022 by the author(s). Published by Bilingual Publishing Co. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). ARTICLE Effects of Dietary Replacement of Maize with Sweet Potato Peel in the Diet of African Catfsh Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Abdurrazzaq Ibrahim Abdullahi 1* Bolanle Silas Bawa 2 Shuaibu A Abdullahi 3 1. Department of Fisheries, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, 600004, Nigeria 2. Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 810107, Nigeria 3. Department of Biology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 810107, Nigeria ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received: 7 May 2022 Revised: 30 May 2022 Accepted: 9 June 2022 Published Online: 28 June 2022 This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary replacement of maize with sweet potato peel in the diet of Clarias gariepinus juveniles. The levels of the SPP inclusion in the experimental diets were 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. All the diets were iso-nitrogenous. One hundred and ffty (150) C. gariepinus juveniles (33 g ~ 35 g) were randomly distributed to fve treatments with three replicates each and 5% of their body weight for 12 weeks. Fish carcass proximate compositions analyzed before and after feeding with the experimental diets shows that CP and EE differed signifcantly (p<0.05) among the experimental fsh and the control, except the percentage CP of the fsh fed SPP0% and SPP50% in which there was no signifcant difference (p>0.05). Highest MWG of 207.70±25.95 g was obtained in the fsh fed SPP100% followed by 191.30±16.15 g obtained in the fsh fed SPP75%. The least MWG of 149.83±16.01 g was recorded in fsh fed SPP25%. The highest FCR of 3.61±0.45 g was recorded in the fsh fed SPP100%. A steady decrease in FCR was observed with decreasing inclusion levels of SPP meal. However, higher FW, FL, SGR and PER were observed in the experimental fsh as from 50% inclusion levels of the SPP. The cost of feed per kg was reduced and the NP and WG increased with increasing levels of SPP and the proftability was enhanced at 100% SPP inclusion level. The results revealed that C. gariepinus juvenile could tolerate up to 50%, 75% and 100% inclusion levels of SPP. The best growth performance was recorded in the fsh fed SPP100%, therefore, sweet potato peel can replace maize in the diet of C. gariepinus without any inauspicious effect on the growth performance and nutrient utilization. Keywords: Sweet potato peel Clarias gariepinus Nutrient utilization Growth performance 1. Introduction The increasing prohibitive cost and scarcity of maize necessitated the need to search for underutilized energy feed ingredients [1] . FAO [2] reported that shortage of maize in Nigeria caused a hike in its price up to 89%. Aside the cost, its use in feed formulation cuts down its availability as food for man. Large quantities of sweet potato peels are *Corresponding Author: Abdurrazzaq Ibrahim Abdullahi, Department of Fisheries, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, 600004, Nigeria; Email: aiabdullahi@unimaid.edu.ng DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jfs.v4i2.4705