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Article | Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution | Volume 5 - Issue 2 - 2025 | 155-166 | https://doi.org/10.53623/tasp.v5i2.841
© 2025 by the author(s), and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License

Toxicological and Haematological Effects of Senna alata Extract on Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings

Author(s): Arikpo Okoi Eteng 1 ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0986-8378 , Auta Jehu 1 , Ndagi Abubakar Mohammed 1 , Abdulateef Yusuf 1 , Muhammad Onimisi Bello 1 , Gabriel Ujong Ikpi 2
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1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Life Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
2 Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria

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Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution

Volume 5 - Issue 2 - 2025

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The study evaluated the acute and sub-lethal effects of ethanol extract of Senna alata stem bark on physicochemical parameters and haematological indices of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. A 96-hour acute toxicity bioassay established an LC₅₀ of 11.54 mg/l (95% CI: 10.92–12.16 mg/l) and an LC₉₉ of 23.30 mg/l (95% CI: 21.75–24.85 mg/l), with mortality increasing from 0% in the control to 85% at 12.6 mg/l. Sub-lethal concentrations (0.61, 0.71, and 0.81 mg/l, corresponding to 1/20th, 1/16th, and 1/14th of LC₅₀, respectively) were applied for eight weeks. Physicochemical parameters (pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and dissolved oxygen) were monitored before and after extract application. Electrical conductivity differed significantly at 0.61 mg/l (p = 0.0351), while other parameters remained statistically unchanged, although dissolved oxygen declined progressively with increasing concentration. Haematological analysis revealed no significant changes (p > 0.05) in haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, packed cell volume, platelet, red blood cell, and white blood cell counts, except for a significant alteration in mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (p = 0.0479). These findings demonstrate that S. alata exhibits moderate piscicidal toxicity under acute exposure and induces mild physiological stress under sub-lethal conditions, which could have long-term implications for fish health and aquaculture productivity. The use of S. alata as a piscicide should therefore be approached cautiously to prevent unintended ecological consequences. Future studies should evaluate histopathological and biochemical stress responses to establish environmental safety limits for S. alata in aquaculture systems.

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SUBMITTED: 25 September 2025
ACCEPTED: 31 October 2025
PUBLISHED: 9 November 2025
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 36 days
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53623/tasp.v5i2.841

Cite this article
Eteng, A. O. ., Jehu, A., Mohammed, N. A., Yusuf, A., Bello, M. O., & Ikpi, G. U. (2025). Toxicological and Haematological Effects of Senna alata Extract on Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings. Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution, 5(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.53623/tasp.v5i2.841
Keywords
Clarias gariepinus Senna alata Acute toxicity Sub-lethal exposure Physicochemical parameters Haematology
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