TILAPIA CULTURE
Tilapia
Phylum Chordata – Notochord group of
animals
Subphylum Vertebrate – Animals with a backbone
Class Osteichthyes – Bony Fishes
Order Perciformes – Perch-like fishes
Family Cichlidae – Cichlid fishes
Genus Oreochromis – Mountain cichlid group
Species niloticus – Nile tilapia
-native in Africa and Middle East
-dubbed as the “aquatic chicken”
-
-third most important fish in aquaculture (after carps and salmonids)
-are speleophils- they nest in natural or constructed cavities (cave-like structures).
Advantages:
-large size
-fast growing (reach marketable size 3-4 months of culture)
-palatability
-can withstand bad water conditions (hardy)
-eat a wide range of food types (supplemental feeds, trash food, rice bran)
-disease resistant
Disadvantages:
-uncontrolled breeding (can lead to overcrowding and stunted growth)
-considered as pest that eats other fish species, esp. small ones
-do not grow well in lower temperature (<22°C)
Three important genera:
1. Oreochromis – mouth brooders; continue to hold the fry in their mouths for
several days before hatching; only females are mouth brooding
2. Sarotherodon- same; either male or female or both are mouth brooders
3. Tilapia- build nests and the fertilized eggs are guarded in the nest by a brood
parent
Species commonly cultured:
1. Oreochromis sp. (O. niloticus, O. mossambicus, O. aureus)
2. Sarotherodon sp. (S. melanotheron melanotheron)
3. Tilapia sp. (T. mariae, T. zilli)
Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)
-first tilapiine species to be cultured in the Philippines in 1950s
-can tolerate higher salinities
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
-also known as “St. Peter’s fish”
-introduced in 1970s by Villadolid
-more popular since grows faster
-commercially produce in freshwater culture
CULTURE METHOD
1. Water parameter
-most important factors affecting the success of the culture
-optimum 25 to 32°C and pH = 6.5 to 9.0
2. Feeding
-generally omnivorous (feed on phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic organisms,
detritus, small fish, and aquatic plants)
