Effects of caraway (Carum carevi) on growth performance, blood, immune and biochemical indices in Jewel fish (Hemichromis bimaculatus)

Jewel fish (Hemichromis bimaculatus)is a well-known and market-freindly ornamental fish in Iran. This work aimed to investigate the effects of caraway(Carum carevi)as a plant extract on growth, blood and immune indices in jewel fish in an 8-week period. So, 120 fish (5 g in weight) were distributed in 12 aquariums. A control group and 3 treatments were considered as follows: control group fed diet with no supplementation, treatment 1 (0.5%), treatment 2 (1%) and treatment 3 (1.5% caraway) in 3 replicates. Immunological and biochemical indices as well as growth performance were measured during the experiment. Among the growth indices, there was the best performance of SGR, PBWI, CF and FCR in treatment 2, exhibiting significant differences (p<0.05) with other groups. In additoin, treatment 2 displayed better results in terms of hemological indices. So that, the highest number of red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCHC, IgM, total protein, lysozyme, total immunoglobulin and HDL cholesterol were observed in treatment 2, exhibiting significant differences (p<0.05) with other groups. Therefore, it was found that adding 1% caraway to the diet can elevate the efficiency of immune system and also enhance the growth and nutritional indices in jewel fish.