Haematological Studies of Clarias gariepinus Exposed to Ethanolic Stem Bark Extracts of Ackee, Blighia sapida

The study evaluated effects of sub-lethal concentrations (0.00, 1.6, 3.2, 6.4, 12.8 g/l) of ethanolic stem bark extracts of ackee, Blighia sapida on haematological profile of Clarias gariepinus (mean weight, 6.95± 1.02 g; total length 11.7±1.32 cm). Each concentration was treated in triplicate using a static bioassay system. The exposure period was 21 days. Physico-chemical parameters of water were monitored throughout the study period. Results revealed that haematocrit, red blood cell, haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration counts were significantly (p<0.05) depleted with increase in extract concentration while white blood cell counts increased (p<0.05) linearly from 198.2, 198.5, 208.8, 219.4 and 241.53 x 103 cells/µl in 0.00, 1.6, 3.2, 6.4 and 12.8 g/l respectively. The levels of water temperature increased with extract concentrations while dissolved oxygen and pH contents decreased. The implications of these results showed that stem bark extract of ackee had negative effects on the blood of treated fish. This may further explain the decline in wild fishery resources in the locality where the plant parts were collected. In view of this, the direct use of this plant in harvesting fish by local fisher folks in Southern Nigeria should be discouraged until information that aid its application in a sustainable manner is made available through further studies.