Raphia hookeri fruits are used for fishing in Nigeria due to their ichthyotoxic properties. This study investigated the toxic effects of R. hookeri on the reproductive capacity of Clarias gariepinus. The results from both short-term (96-hour test) and long-term (3-month sublethal test) bioassays revealed a linear relationship between R. hookeri extract dose and negative effects on the catfish. The percentage survival of both sexes of the catfish decreased with increasing extract concentration at short-term exposure, with LC50 values of 600？mg/L and 800？mg/L for male and female, respectively. At long-term exposure, the reproductive capacity of 10–12-month-old male and female brood-stocks diminished at relatively higher concentrations of R. hookeri fruit extract, with the gravid females producing fewer and mostly unviable eggs. The fruit extract also affected the eggs’ hatchability and fry survival when the exposed gravid females were treated with pituitary hormone and sperms from unexposed males, while the exposed males were unable to sexually stimulate female brooders. Sperms and pituitary hormone from exposed males were infertile, leading to low percentage of hatched eggs and mortality of the few hatched fries within 24 hours. These results confirmed the ethnobotanical use of this fruit extract for fishing in Nigeria. 1. Introduction Fish is one of the cheapest protein sources in sub-Saharan Africa [1], and the importance of fish in developing countries increased greatly after the Sahelian drought of 1971 to 1974, which decimated the cattle population and hence shot up the prices of beef [2]. Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) belongs to the family Clariidae, and is widely distributed in Nigerian waters [3]. The fish is known for its high tolerance and high survivability [4] and resilience in harsh habitat conditions [5]. There is a huge market value for the fish in Nigerian markets due to its taste [6], which resulted in the proliferation of fish farming business in Nigeria using different fish production methods. However, wild catch still remains important. In order to increase catch yields in traditional fishing, different toxic plants that can stupefy fish have been exploited [7, 8]. Chopra et al. [9] reported at least 112 plants with poisonous effects on fish. Seigler [10] reported the piscicidal effect of some common plants of India that are frequently used in freshwater bodies against target organism while Neuwinger [11] also observed that there is a wide variety of wild and cultivated poisonous plants available to coastal fishermen for
References
[1]
S. O. E. Sadiku and A. A. Oladimeji, “Relationship of proximate composition of Lates niloticus (L), Synodontis schall,” Research Communications, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 29–40, 1991.
[2]
O. O. Fawole, M. A. Ogundiran, T. A. Ayandiran, and O. F. Olagunju, “Proximate and mineral composition in some selected fresh water fishes in Nigeria,” Internet Journal of Food Safety, vol. 9, pp. 52–55, 2007.
[3]
O. A. Fagbenro, “The dietary habits of clarid catfish Heterobranchus bidorsalis (Geoffery st. Hilaria) in Owerri, Southern Nigeria,” Tropical Zoology, vol. 5, pp. 11–17, 1992.
[4]
M. A. Ogundiran, O. O. Fawole, S. O. Adewoye, and T. A. Ogundiran, “Pathological lesions in the gills of Clarias gariepinus exposed to sublethal concentrations of soap and detergent effluents,” Journal of Cell and Animal Biology, vol. 3, pp. 78–82, 2009.
[5]
H. Hogendoorn, “Controlled propagation of the African catfish, Clarias lazera (C& V). I. Reproductive biology and field experiments,” Aquaculture, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 323–333, 1979.
[6]
O. Kori-Siakpere and E. O. Ubogu, “Sublethal haematological effects of zinc on the freshwater fish, Heteroclarias sp. (Osteichthyes: Clariidae),” African Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 7, no. 12, pp. 2068–2073, 2008.
[7]
M. A. Geidam, E. Dauda, and H. G. Hamza, “Effects of aqueous stem-bark extract of Momordica balsamina Linn on some serum enzymes in normal and ethanol fed rats,” Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 397–400, 2007.
[8]
H. N. Kamalkishor and H. N. Kulkarni, “Fish stupefying plants used by the Gond tribal of Mendha village of central India,” Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 531–534, 2009.
[9]
R. N. Chopra, R. L. Badhwar, and S. Ghosh, Poisonous Plants of India, Public Service Commission, Government of West Bengal, Calcutta, India, 1944.
[10]
D. S. Seigler, “Piscicidal effect of some common plants in south-west Nigeria,” Journal of Applied Science, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 2417–2424, 2002.
[11]
H. D. Neuwinger, “Plants used for poison fishing in tropical Africa,” Toxicon, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 417–430, 2004.
[12]
O. O. Fafioye, “Plants with piscicidal activities in South Western Nigeria,” Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, vol. 5, pp. 91–97, 2005.
[13]
S. Ahmed and M. Grainge, “Potential of the neem tree (Azadirachta indica) for pest control and rural development,” Economic Botany, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 201–209, 1986.
[14]
D. P. Charkraborty, A. E. Nandy, and M. T. Philopose, “Barryingtonia acutangular (L.) Gaertin as a fish poison,” Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 10, pp. 78–80, 1972.
[15]
B. C. Onurusika and E. B. C. Ufodike, “Growth of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Tangels) subjected to sub-lethal concentrations of water extracts of Akee-apple, Blighia sapida and Kigelia africana,” Journal of Aquatic Science, vol. 13, pp. 59–62, 1998.
[16]
J. N. Aguigwo, “Studies on Acute Toxicity of Cassava Leaf Extracts on African Catfish Clarias angiullaris,” Journal of Aquatic Sciences, vol. 13, pp. 29–32, 1998.
[17]
E. M. Obuotor and F. D. Onajobi, “Preliminary evaluation of cytotoxic properties of Raphia hookeri fruit mesocarp,” Fitoterapia, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 190–192, 2000.
[18]
B. A. Ndon, The Raphia Palm: Economic Palm Series, Concept Publications, Lagos, Nigeria, 2003.
[19]
M. C. Martínez, G. L. De Pinto, and C. Rivas, “Composition of Acacia macracantha gum exudates,” Phytochemistry, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 535–536, 1992.
[20]
M. O. Otedoh, The systemic studies of Raphia palms [Ph.D. thesis], University of Reading, London, UK, 1976.
[21]
M. O. Otedoh, “Sweet Raphia palm wine,” The Nigerian Field, vol. 55, pp. 59–64, 1990.
[22]
J. K. Ekelemu, “Preliminary studies on use of raphia palm (Raphia hookeri) pulp to harvest fish and possible effects on fish production in the Niger Delta Area, Nigeria,” Tropical Freshwater Biology, vol. 18, no. 1, 2009.
[23]
A. O. Adeogun, “Haematological profiles of the African Clariid catfish (Clarias gariepinus) exposed to methanolic extract of Raphia hookeri,” Tropical Veterinarian, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 27–43, 2011.
[24]
A. O. Adeogun, S. O. Fagade, and A. A. Adebisi, “Toxicity of the aqueous extracts of Raphia hookeri on two freshwater fin-fishes: Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus,” in Proceedings of SAN Conference, vol. 19, pp. 102–109, 1995.
[25]
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Part 10: short term bio-assays,” in Manual of Methods in Aquatic Environment Research, D. L. Reish and P. S. Oshida, Eds., FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 247, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 1987.
[26]
APHA, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, USA, 16th edition, 1985.
[27]
D. J. Finney, Probit Analysis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 3rd edition, 1971.
[28]
E. A. Huisman and C. J. J. Richter, “Reproduction, growth, health control and aquacultural potential of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822),” Aquaculture, vol. 63, no. 1–4, pp. 1–14, 1987.
[29]
Y. Nahagama, “The functional morphology of Teleost gonads,” in Fish Physiology, W. S. Hoar, D. T. Randall, and E. M. Donaldson, Eds., vol. 9, pp. 223–275, Academy Press, New York, NY, USA, 1983.
[30]
W. T. R. Viveen, E. J. Ruhter, P. G. Van Oordt, A. L. Jane Ja, and E. A. Hisman, “Practical manual for culture of African Catfish, C. gariepinus,” Translations of the Zoological Society of London, vol. 35, pp. 1–45, 1986.
[31]
P. O. Aluko and M. H. Ali, “Production of eight types of fast growing intergeneric hybrids from four clariid species,” Journal of Aquaculture in the Tropics, vol. 16, pp. 139–147, 2001.
[32]
G. T. Ankley, K. M. Jensen, M. D. Kahl, J. J. Korte, and E. A. Makynen, “Description and evaluation of a short-term reproduction test with the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas),” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1276–1290, 2001.
[33]
A. O. Adeogun, Effects of methanolic extracts of Raphia hookeri (Mann and Wendl) on life stages of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1862) [Ph.D. thesis], University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 2004.
[34]
A. O. Adeogun, “Acute toxicity of methanolic extract of Raphia hookeri on life stages of Clarias gariepinus,” Journal of Science Research, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 179–186, 2012.
[35]
P. K. Roy, J. D. Munshi, and H. M. Dutta, “Effect of Saponin extracts on morpho-history and respiratory physiology of an air-breathing fish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch,” Journal of Freshwater Biology, vol. 2, pp. 135–145, 1990.
[36]
G. Francis, H. P. S. Makkar, and K. Becker, “Antinutritional factors present in plant-derived alternate fish feed ingredients and their effects in fish,” Aquaculture, vol. 199, no. 3-4, pp. 197–227, 2001.
[37]
G. Francis, Z. Kerem, H. P. S. Makkar, and K. Becker, “The biological action of saponins in animal systems: a review,” British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 88, no. 6, pp. 587–605, 2002.
[38]
L. He, Z. Guoying, Z. Huaiyun, and H. Yuanhao, “Chemical constituents and biological activities of saponin from the seed of Camellia oleifera,” Scientific Research and Essays, vol. 5, no. 25, pp. 4091–4095, 2010.
[39]
G. A. Thomas, Toxicity of Aqueous Extracts of the Stem of E. lateriflora on O. niloticus, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, 1998.
[40]
C. Quist, Effects of Piper guineense on the blood, gills testes and gut of O. niloticus juveniles [M.S. thesis], Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, 1992.
[41]
V. I. Onwubuya, Comparative Study of the Toxicity of R . hookeri and Elephant Detergent on the Juvenile of O . niloticus (L) and C . gariepinus [M.S. thesis], Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, 1999.
[42]
P. Matthiessen and J. W. M. Logan, “Low concentration effects of endosulfan insecticide on reproductive behaviour in the tropical cichlid fish Sarotherodon mossambicus,” Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 575–583, 1984.
[43]
W. B. Scott and J. Crossman, Freshwater Fishes of Canada, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 1st edition, 1985.
[44]
E. E. Little, J. F. Fairchild, and A. J. DeLoany, “Behavioural methods for assessing impacts of contaminants on early life stage fishes,” in Proceedings of the American Fisheries Society Symposium, vol. 14, pp. 67–76, 1993.
[45]
A. O. Adeogun and A. C. Victor, “Altered reproduction in Clarias gariepinus exposed to industrial effluents,” American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 61–70, 2012.
[46]
S. Srivastava, P. Prabhakar, B. Singh, and B. C. Srivastava, “Toxicity and behavior of the fish Labeo rohita and Channa punctatus exposed to pulp and paper mill effluent,” Journal of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Monitoring, vol. 17, pp. 241–244, 2007.
[47]
T. S. Pathan, P. B. Thete, S. E. Shinde, D. L. Sonawane, and Y. K. Khillare, “Histochemical changes in the liver of freshwater fish, Rasbora daniconius, exposed to paper mill effluent,” Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 263–266, 2009.
[48]
A. O. Adeogun and A. V. Chukwuka, “Effect of textile factory effluent on otolith and somatic growth parameters in Clarias gariepinus,” Zoologist, vol. 9, pp. 70–77, 2012.
[49]
G. Fryer and T. D. Illis, The Cichlid Fishes of the Great Lakes of Africa: Their Biology and Evolution, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburg, Tex, USA, 1972.
[50]
P. R. Parish, “Acute toxicity test,” in Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology, G. M. Rand and S. R. Petrocelli, Eds., p. 666, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, USA, 1985.
[51]
G. M. Rand and S. R. Petrocelli, Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, USA, 1985.
[52]
A. P. Vanerkar, S. Satyanarayan, and D. M. Dharmadhikari, “Toxicity of herbal pharmaceutical wastewater on fish—Lebistes reticulatus (Peter),” Journal of Environmental Science and Health B: Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Wastes, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 115–123, 2004.
[53]
A. S. Murthy, Toxicity of Pesticides to Fish, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla, USA, 1st edition, 1986.
[54]
M. D. McCue, “Starvation physiology: reviewing the different strategies animals use to survive a common challenge,” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, vol. 156, no. 1, pp. 1–18, 2010.
[55]
W. H. Karasov, “Energetics, physiology and vertebrate ecology,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 101–104, 1986.
[56]
A. E. Dunham, B. W. Grant, and K. L. Overall, “Interfaces between biophysical and physiological ecology and the population ecology of terrestrial vertebrate ectotherms,” Physiological Zoology, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 335–355, 1989.
[57]
K. A. Nagy, I. A. Girard, and T. K. Brown, “Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles, and birds,” Annual Review of Nutrition, vol. 19, pp. 247–277, 1999.
[58]
G. C. Whittow, Sturkie's Avian Physiology, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif, USA, 5th edition, 2000.
[59]
S. Y. Sol, L. L. Johnson, T. K. Collier, M. M. Krahn, and U. Varanasi, “Contaminant effects on reproductive output in north Pacific flatfish,” in Proceedings of the International Symposium on North Pacific Flatfish, Alaska Sea Grant Collection Program (NPFASGCP '95), pp. 547–560, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 1995.
[60]
M. T. Shatunovskii, N. V. Akimova, and G. I. Ruban, “Response of reproductive systems of fishes to anthropogenic impacts,” Journal of Ichthyology, vol. 36, pp. 242–256, 1996.
[61]
C. M. Lye, C. L. J. Frid, M. E. Gill, and D. McCormick, “Abnormalities in the reproductive health of flounder Platichthys flesus exposed to effluent from a sewage treatment works,” Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 34–41, 1997.
[62]
C. J. Rickwood, M. G. Dubé, L. M. Hewitt, T. G. Kovacs, and D. L. MacLatchy, “Use of paired fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) reproductive test. Part 2: source identification of biological effects at a bleached kraft pulp mill,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1847–1856, 2006.
[63]
C. J. Rickwood, M. G. Dubé, L. M. Hewitt, T. G. Kovacs, J. L. Parrott, and D. L. MacLatchy, “Use of paired fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) reproductive test. Part 1: assessing biological effects of final bleached kraft pulp mill effluent using a mobile bioassay trailer system,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1836–1846, 2006.
[64]
S. M. Wu, M.-J. Shih, and Y.-C. Ho, “Toxicological stress response and cadmium distribution in hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) upon cadmium exposure,” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology C: Toxicology and Pharmacology, vol. 145, no. 2, pp. 218–226, 2007.
[65]
B. Jezierska, K. Lugowska, M. Witeska, and P. Sarnowski, “Malformations of newly hatched common carp larvae,” Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities, vol. 3, pp. 12–19, 2000.
[66]
F. Lahnsteiner and P. Patarnello, “The shape of the lipid vesicle is a potential marker for egg quality determination in the gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, and in the sharpsnout seabream, Diplodus puntazzo,” Aquaculture, vol. 246, no. 1–4, pp. 423–435, 2005.
[67]
E. Bonnet, A. Fostier, and J. Bobe, “Microarray-based analysis of fish egg quality after natural or controlled ovulation,” BMC Genomics, vol. 8, article 55, 2007.
[68]
R. D. Robinson, Evaluation and development of laboratory protocol is for estimating reproductive impacts of pulp mill effluent on fish [Ph.D. thesis], University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1994.
[69]
T. G. Kovacs, J. S. Gibbons, L. A. Tremblay, B. I. O'Connor, P. H. Martel, and R. H. Voss, “The effects of a secondary-treated bleached kraft mill effluent on aquatic organisms as assessed by short-term and long-term laboratory tests,” Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 7–22, 1995.
[70]
D. L. Borton, W. R. Streblow, T. M. Bousquet, and D. L. Cook, “Fathead minnow (Pimephales promeleas) reproduction during multigeneration life-cycle tests with kraft mill effluents,” in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Environmental Impacts of the Pulp and Paper Industry Report 417, (EIPPIR '00), pp. 152–157, Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland, 2000.
[71]
D. L. Borton, W. R. Streblow, P. A. van Veld, T. J. Hall, and T. M. Bousquet, “Comparison of potential biomarkers to reproduction during fathead minnow (Pimephales promeleas) life-cycle tests with Kraft mill effluents,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on the Environmental Fate and Effects of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents, pp. 459–470, SETAC, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2003.
[72]
L. M. Hewitt, T. G. Kovacs, M. G. Dubé et al., “Altered reproduction in fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents: roles of individual compounds and mill operating conditions,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 682–697, 2008.
[73]
S. L. Lamai, G. F. Warner, and C. H. Walker, “Effects of dieldrin on life stages of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell),” Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 22–29, 1999.
[74]
B. A. Sorensen, Ambient Toxicity Assessments of Clark Fork River Water-Toxicity Tests and Metals Residues in Brown Trout Organs, Montana Department of Fish wildlife and Parks, Helena, Mont, USA, 1991.
