Morphometric and histological features of the testicles of cultured male broodstock African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) at different ages

Abstract

Testicular tissues obtained from 25 apparently healthy broodstock African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) of 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12 months old were used to investigate the morphological adaptations of the testicles suitable for reproductive exercises. The result showed that the mean gonadosomatic indices of the pooled testicles of the catfish increased linearly from 0.30 ± 0.02, 0.34 ± 0.01, 0.45 ± 0.09 at 6, 8, and 9 months of age respectively and peaked at 12 months with a GSI value of 0.61±0.13. Moreover, the epithelial height of the seminiferous tubules of 9 month old catfish was significantly (P