HAEMATOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF Sarotherodon melanotheron FROM A SLUM NEIGHBOURHOOD ENVIRONMENT

A total of 18 live specimens of the black jaw tilapia,Sarotherodon melanotheron, meanweight (82.95 ±3.27g)and mean length (13.1 ±0.35cm), were sam­pled bimonthly for three months from the Makokoar­ea, a slum neighbourhood, of Lagos Lagoon, to estab­lish the haematologicaland biochemical indices of the fish species which will serve as baseline forfurther studies and ascertain the health of the environment. The mean value andstandard error of mean of some of the haematological parameters analyzed were: Hb: 89.65 ±3.63g/l, PCV: 27.47 ±0.58%, RBC: 3.05 ±0.06T/L,WBC: 10.02 ±0.40g/L, MCV: 86.87 ±1.39fl, MCH: 29.64±0.62pg, MCHC: 33.29±0.13g/dl, Neutrophils: 22.89 ±0.63%, Lymphocyte: 79.67 ±1.49% and Monocyte:0.72 ±0.25%. No Eo­sinophils and Basophils were recorded in this study. Whilethe mean and standard error of mean of the bio­chemical enzymes analyzed inIU/L, were: AST (76.84 ±4.08), ALT (23.06 ±2.12) and ALP (77.74 ±6.12). Therewas statistical significance (p<0.05) in the following haematologicalparameters: Hb, WBC, MCV, Neutrophils and Lymphocytes. There was sta­tisticalsignificance (p<0.05) in all the biochemical indices. It was establishedthat the water was polluted with heavy metals, sewage and other organic pollu­tantssuch as wood wastes, and that these pollutants have altered the haematology andbiochemistry of the fish species.