Abdurrazzaq Ibrahim Abdullahi¹ , Maryam Abdullahi Sanda¹ , Tukur Mohammed² , Abubakar Mohammed Mohammed³ , Yakubu Ibrahim⁴ , Sani Maiwada⁵ , Goni Bukar Lawan⁶

1 Department of Fisheries, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria
2 Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria
3 Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Federal University, Wukari-Nigeria
4 Department of Fisheries Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi-Nigeria
5 Department of Fisheries Technology, College of Agriculture and Animal Science Mando, Kaduna-Nigeria
6 Department of Agricultural Technology, Federal Polytechnic Monguno-Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 3   
Received: 15 May, 2026    Accepted: 16 Jun., 2026    Published: 30 Jun., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study evaluated the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the growth performance and nutrient utilization of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. Five isoproteinous diets were formulated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae at inclusion levels of 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%, representing one control and four treatment diets. Completely randomized design was employed. One hundred and fifty (150) Clarias gariepinus fingerlings were used for the experiment. Ten fish were randomly assigned to 1 m² Hapa net. A total of 15 Hapa nets were used in polythene-lined pond of 10 m × 7 m (l×b) and depth of 1.5 m, the five formulated diets were fed to the experimental fish at 5% body weight for a period of 8 weeks.  Highest mean weight gain of 68.65±8.49 g was obtained in fish fed 0.5% followed by 54.37±8.49 g obtained in the fish fed 1.5%. The least mean weight gain of 37.66±8.49 g was recorded in fish fed 2.0%. The highest FCR value of 1.51 was recorded in fish fed the 1.5% diet, while the lowest and best FCR value of 0.52 was recorded in fish fed the 0.5% S. cerevisiae diet, no significant difference (P >0.05) was observed in the feed conversion ratio of the fish fed 0% and 1% inclusion level of S. cerevisiae. This study revealed that the fish fed 0.5% Saccharomyces cerevisiae had the best growth performance and nutrient utilization, unveiling the positive effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the culture of Clarias gariepinus. Therefore, dietary supplementation with 0.5% S. cerevisiae may be considered a natural feed additive for improving growth performance and nutrient utilization in C. gariepinus. This study is expected to provide baseline information for the practical use of yeast-based probiotics in African catfish culture.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae; African catfish; Yeast; Natural growth promoter; Clarias gariepinus