Garlic (Allium sativum) is probably one of the earliest known medicinal plants and has been used to improve growth and resistance of a number of livestock and fish. This study was conducted to show the effects garlic on the growth performance and nutrient utilization of fingerlings of an ecotype cichlid commonly called 'wesafu' in Nigeria. A total of 600 fingerlings (1.4 ± 0.12 g) were obtained from the hatchery of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Victoria Island,

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... os and used for the study. They were randomly assigned to 12 plastic tanks each, 0.5 m 3 with a flow-through water system. Five doses of garlic,0 (control), 10g, 20g and 30g of fresh clove of garlic were mixed with 1kg feed. The control diet was free from garlic. The experiment extended lasted for 12 weeks. The results showed significantly increased weight and growth performance of the ecotype cichlid (P<0.01) in all groups fed on garlic. The mortalities were lower in diet supplemented with garlic than in the control group. The improve survival rate may be due to the enhanced immune response resulting from improved defense mechanism.