The study assessed the sperm quality of African mud catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), fed diets containing treated Azanza garckeana pulp meal. Sperm quality is an important consideration in the production of high-quality fish larvae and the efficient economic utilisation of hatchery facilities (Coban et al., 2011). The proximate composition of the experimental diets was determined following the procedures of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 2010). The fish were randomly allocated to five treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5), with 12 fish assigned to each treatment and three replicates arranged in a completely randomized design using concrete tanks. The fish weighed between 750 and 850 g and were subjected to the experimental diets for 56 days at a feeding rate of 5% body weight, administered twice daily in the morning and evening. Treatment T5 recorded the highest proportion of active sperm cells (55%), followed by T4 (50%), whereas T3 had the lowest proportion (40%). The highest percentage of motile sperm cells was also observed in T5 (80%), followed by T4 (75%), while T3 recorded the lowest value (64%). Treatment T3 exhibited the highest proportion of sluggish sperm cells at 30%, whereas the greatest percentage of dead sperm cells was recorded in T1 (36%). In contrast, T5 recorded the lowest proportion of dead sperm cells (20%), indicating comparatively better sperm quality among the fish receiving this treatment.

Keywords: Clarias gariepinus, sperm quality, Azanza garckeana.