Journal of Molluscan Research, (JMR) Volume 8, 2022
OKENIYI F. A.*, OLAWOYE S. O., ANIMASHAHUN R. A., AND EGBUZOBI M. U.1
ABSTRACT
A 10-week study was conducted to determine the effect of varying dietary protein and energy levels on the performance of the growing giant African land snails (GALS), Archachatina marginata. One hundred and forty-four snails with a mean weight of 138.48g were used for this study. The snails were randomly divided into 12 groups of 12 snails each, assigned to 12 diet treatments in a 3 x 4 factorial arrangement involving three crude protein levels (25%, 27.5%, and 30%) and four energy levels (300, 320, 340 and 360 kcal/100g). Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 4 snails per replicate giving a total of 12 snails per treatment. Results showed that the diets were different from one another due to the variation in the protein-to-energy ratio. Snails fed the treatment 3 diet had the highest protein-to-energy ratio (99.7) while snails fed the treatment 10 diet had the lowest (69.4).
The final and weekly body weight gain (BWG), was highest (P < 0.05) for snails (207.84g and 8.75g respectively) fed diet 3 at 30% protein and 300kcal/100g energy levels while the final body weight gain was lowest for snails fed diet 5 (121.08g) and weekly weight gain was lowest for snails fed diet 2 (0.89g). In addition, snails on diet 3 had better (P<0.05) FCR (15.01) compared to snails fed with other diets. Diet with high protein and low energy resulted in better weight gains. Shell width increase was positively affected (p<0.05) by protein and energy levels with the highest values corresponding with the highest protein and energy levels. In conclusion, diets with protein and energy levels of 30% and 300 kcal/100kg seem adequate for the optimum performance of GALS (Archachatina marginata) in the humid tropics.
Keywords: Protein-energy ratio, weight gain, shell length, Shell width, Feed conversion, efficiency, Archachatina marginata, GALS.
