Finfish Breeding and Hatchery Management

Unit 9 - Breeding of tilapia

9.1. Introduction

• Tilapias are a group of African freshwater fish that exhibit parental care.
• They are widely cultured in tropical and sub-tropical countries.
• Tilapias breed naturally in ponds, tanks, lakes, estuaries, reservoirs, etc. and spawn year-round.
• An important foodfish and commands high price in the international market.

Distribution and importance of tilapia

• Tlapias belong to the family Cichlidae and Order Perciformes.
• Also known as `Aquatic chicken’ due to its fast-growing nature, delicacy, ability to convert natural food into flesh very efficiently and absence of intramuscular bones’, its demand is increasing tremendously.
• Can be cultured in freshwater, brackish-water and salt water.
• Grows to 500 - 600 g in 6-8 months

Identifying characters

• Body elongate, fairly deep and compressed.
• Upper profile more convex than lower.
• Mouth large.
• Longest soft dorsal ray extending to above proximal part of caudal fin in females and immature males.
• Caudal fin truncate, often with rounded corners.
• Females and non-breeding males watery–grey to yellowish, with 3 or 4 dark blotches often apparent along flanks.
• Body of males during breeding season deep black; lower part of head chalky or pale-grayish-white; upper lip bluish. Dorsal fin black with a red margin ; pectoral fin translucent red; caudal fin with a broad red margin.

Food and feeding
Herbivorous, feeding on algae, detritus, etc.
Based on parental care, tilapias are grouped into

• Maternal mouth-brooder, eg. Oreochromis mossambicus, O. niloticus, etc.,
• Paternal (or biparental) mouth-brooders, eg. Sarotherodon galileus, S. macrocephalus.
• Substrate spawners, eg. Tilapia zilli.

Tilapia