The resilience and versatility of tilapia has taken the fish from its natural habitat – the rivers of north Africa – to almost every continent on the planet. The species adapts to a wide range of environments. In one extreme example, having been introduced to the Salton Sea in California (which was merely brackish at the time) tilapia now thrive there in salinity levels that kill other native marine species. Numerically, at least, it is an evolutionary success story.
The name tilapia is an umbrella term for a variety of species, the most common being Mozambique tilapia, the Oreochromis aurenus and the Nile Tilapia. It is streamlined with a deep body. The lateral line in tilapia, like many fish, is uninterrupted.
Their fins are mostly spined, with the dorsal fins most heavily so. The most common colour of tilapia is red, which was initially a genetic cross between a female Mozambique and the typical male tilapia fish. Several factors influence the colour of the tilapia fish, including the sexual rate of maturity, the geographical location of its growth and the kind and source of food.
One of the reasons tilapia are preferred over a large variety of fish for farming is due to their ease of growth. Tilapia requires minimal upkeep to reach maturity. For these reasons, fish farmers can invest less capital and space and still expect to produce many mature fish.
Successful farming of tilapia depends on many factors. To breed them commercially one needs to understand the species’ maturity rate. Understanding this aspect of tilapia farming will enable accurate estimation of the investment required before the fish can make expected returns. Native tilapia take more time to mature and, due to overfishing, these indigenous species are slowly decreasing in numbers.
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The Aquaculturists
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