| Mozambique Tilapia | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Subfamily: | Pseudocrenilabrinae |
| Tribe: | Tilapiini |
| Genus: | Oreochromis |
| Species: | O. mossambicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters, 1852) |
|
The Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, is a tilapiine cichlid fish native to southern Africa. It is a popular fish for aquaculture. It is now found in tropical and subtropical habitats around the globe, where it can become an invasive species.
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The native Mozambique tilapia is laterally compressed, and has a deep body with long dorsal fins, the front part of which have spines. Native coloration is a dull greenish or yellowish, and there may be weak banding. Adults reach approximately 35 centimetres (14 in) in length and up to 1.13 kilograms (2.5 lb). Size and coloration may vary in captive and naturalized populations due to environmental and breeding pressures. It lives for up to 11 years.
It is a remarkably robust and fecund fish, readily adapting to available food sources and breeding under suboptimal conditions. It also tolerates brackish water and survives temperatures below 50 °F (10 °C) and above 100 °F (38 °C).
The Mozambique tilapia is native to coastal regions and the lower reaches of rivers in southern Africa, from the Zambezi River delta to Bushman River in the eastern Cape.[1] It is threatened in its home range by competition with the invasive Nile tilapia (Waal 2002).
Mozambique tilapia are omnivorous. They can consume detrital material, diatoms, invertebrates, small fry and vegetation ranging from macroalgae to rooted plants (Mook 1983, Trewevas 1983). This broad diet helps the species thrive in diverse locations.
The Mozambique tilapia is an invasive species in many parts of the world, having escaped from aquaculture or been deliberately introduced to control mosquitoes (Moyle 1976). It has been nominated by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) as one the 100 worst invasive species in the world (Courtenay 1989). It can harm native fish populations through competition for food and nesting space, as well as by directly consuming small fish (Courtenay et al. 1974). In Hawaii, striped mullet Mugil cephalus are threatened because of the introduction of this species. Mozambique tilapia may also be responsible for the decline of the desert pupfish, Cyprinodon macularius, in California's Salton Sea (Courtenay and Robins 1989, Swift et al. 1993).
As with most species of tilapia, Mozambique tilapia have a high potential for hybridization. They are often crossbred with other tilapia species in aquaculture because purebred Mozambique tilapia grow slowly and have a body shape poorly suited to cutting large fillets. Also, hybrids between certain parent combinations (such as between Mozambique and Wami tilapia) result in offspring that are all or predominantly male. Male tilapia are preferred in aquaculture as they grow faster and have a more uniform adult size than females. The "Florida Red" tilapia is popular commercial hybrid of Mozambique and Blue tilapia.[2]
In the first step in the reproductive cycle for Mozambique tilapia, males excavate a nest into which a female can lay her eggs. After the eggs are laid the male fertilizes them. Then the female stores the eggs in her mouth, called mouthbrooding, until the fry hatch (Popma, 1999).
Mozambique tilapia are hardy individuals that are easy to raise and harvest, making them a good aquacultural species. They have a mild, white flesh that is appealing to consumers. This species constitutes about 4% of the total tilapia aquaculture production worldwide, but is more commonly hybridized with other tilapia species (Gupta and Acosta 2004). Tilapia are very susceptible to diseases such as whirling disease and ich (Popma, 1999).
The species is known by a number of other names including
