Oreochromis aureus, Blue tilapia : fisheries, aquaculture, aquarium, bait

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Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864)

Blue tilapia
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Oreochromis aureus
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Classification / Names Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes(Genere, Specie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Oreochromis: Latin, aurum = gold + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335);  aureus: From the Greek words oreos=of the mountains and chroma=color; aureus (Latin)=golden from aurum, gold (Ref. 79012).
More on author: Steindachner.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecologia

; acqua dolce; salmastro benthopelagico; potamodromo (Ref. 51243); distribuzione batimetrica 5 - ? m. Tropical; 8°C - 30°C (Ref. 2); 35°N - 10°N

Distribuzione Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Point map | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Africa and Eurasia: Jordan Valley, Lower Nile, Chad Basin, Benue, middle and upper Niger, Senegal River (Ref. 21). Introduced in the oasis of Azraq (Jordan) as well as in warm water ponds of USA, South and Central America and South East Asia. At least one country reports adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Length at first maturity / Size / Peso / Age

Maturity: Lm 19.0, range 13 - 20 cm
Max length : 45.7 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 40637); common length : 16.0 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 12193); peso massimo pubblicato: 2.0 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale): 14 - 17; Raggi dorsali molli (totale): 11-15; Spine anali 3; Raggi anali molli: 8 - 11; Vertebre: 28 - 31. Diagnosis: Adults: narrow preorbital bone (depth max. 21.5% of head length in fishes up to 21.3cm SL); lower pharyngeal jaw with short blade; no enlargement of the jaws in mature fish (lower jaw not exceeding and usually less than 36.8% head length) (Ref. 2). Caudal without regular dark vertical stripes (Ref. 2, 53405, 54467), but with a broad pink to bright red distal margin (Ref. 2). Breeding males assume an intense bright metallic blue on the head, a vermilion edge to the dorsal fin and a more intense pink on the caudal margin (Ref. 2, 54467). Breeding females with the edges of dorsal and caudal fins in a paler more orange color (Ref. 2). Juveniles: upper line of head profile running upward from snout at sharp angle; lower pharyngeal bone nearly triangular, teeth numerous but not densely crowded; dorsal and anal fin striped, with stripes running obliquely on the soft dorsal and longitudinally on the caudal fin; black Tilapia-mark on soft dorsal present; body dark; lower lip developed from beneath (Ref. 54566).

Biologia     Glossario (es. epibenthic)

Cold tolerant (Ref. 23, 61, 55352), occuring at temperatures ranging from 8°-30°C (Ref. 2), tolerating up to 41 °C (Ref. 23). Tolerates fairly brackish conditions (Ref. 3, 23, 61, 2001, 6465, 54362). Forms schools; is sometimes territorial; inhabits warm ponds and impoundments as well as lakes and streams (Ref. 5723, 11028), in open water as well as among stones and vegetation (Ref. 11028). Feeds on phytoplankton and small quantities of zooplankton (Ref. 3, 61, 6465, 52307). Young fish have a more varied diet which includes large quantities of copepods and cladocerans (Ref. 2, 61, 6465), but they also take pieces of small invertebrates (Ref. 52307). Ovophilic, agamous (Ref. 52307), maternal mouthbrooder (Ref. 364, 52307). Sexual maturity in ponds reached at age of 5-6 months (Ref. 55352). Reproduces in both fresh and brackish water (Ref. 61, 5723). Good taste (Ref. 61).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturità | Riproduzione | Deposizione | Uova | Fecundity | Larve

Nesting usually in shallow water weedy areas (Ref. 96). Males establish territory and dig a spawning pit (Ref. 2, 6465, 54601), using mouth and fins (Ref. 2), up to 60cm deep and 4-6m in diameter; a number of territories can often be found clustered together (Ref. 52307). Territories are defended by means of agressive behaviour (Ref. 6465), including lateral display, lateral biting and mouth-to-mouth combat (Ref. 2). Reproduction is stimulated by long photoperiods and inhibited by short daylengths (Ref. 54365). Reproduction requires a minimum temperature of about 20°C (Ref. 2). Males visit schools of females and attempt to attract a female spawning partner (Ref. 2, 52307). Courting behaviour in the nest consists of lateral display by both sexes with nipping and tail-flapping (Ref. 2). Eggs are deposited in single clutches, from several dozen to 100 eggs (Ref. 52307), and are taken into the females mouth as soon as they are fertilized (Ref. 2, 6465, 52307), with a peak spawning frequency around the 9-11th hour of light (Ref. 31140, 54365). One female may hold up to 2000 eggs in her mouth (Ref. 2). The female swims away to deeper water with the brood after spawning is complete (Ref. 2, 52307), while the male renews spawning activities with another female. Hatching occurs about 3 days after oviposition (Ref. 2). Incubation time varies with temperature, 13-14 days at 25-27°C (Ref. 2, 52307) or 8-10 days at 29°C (Ref. 144), and juveniles leave the mother's mouth when they are about 1.1cm in length (Ref. 54601). The young school near parent's head for a few days, reentering the mouth at any sign of danger or at a gesture of the female; parent-offspring relationship ceases after 5 days (Ref. 2).

Main reference Upload your references | Bibliografia | Coordinatore : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaboratori

Trewavas, E., 1983. Tilapiine fishes of the genera Sarotherodon, Oreochromis and Danakilia. British Mus. Nat. Hist., London, UK. 583 p. (Ref. 2)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest (Ref. 6465)





Human uses

Pesca: elevato interesse commerciale; Acquacoltura: commerciale; Acquario: Commerciale; esca: usually
FAO - Acquacoltura: production; pesca: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

Informazioni ulteriori

Age/Size
Accrescimento
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morfometria
Morfologia
Larve
Dinamica popolazioni larvali
Reclutamento
Abbondanza
BRUVS
Bibliografia
Acquacoltura
Profilo di acquacoltura
Varietà
Genetica
Electrophoreses
Ereditarietà
Malattie
Elaborazione
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaboratori
Immagini
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Suoni
Ciguatera
Velocità
Modalità di nuoto
Area branchiale
Otoliths
Cervelli
Vista

Strumenti

Special reports

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Fonti Internet

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: Genere, Specie | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Acquacoltura: production; pesca: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Database Nazionali | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, ricerca | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01905 (0.01471 - 0.02469), b=2.98 (2.94 - 3.02), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.1   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 2.2 (0.3 - 4.4) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 10 growth studies.
Resilienza (Ref. 120179):  Alto, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione meno di 15 mesi (K=0.48-0.58; tm<1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (26 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 20.5 [7.9, 95.6] mg/100g; Iron = 1.09 [0.53, 2.43] mg/100g; Protein = 17.9 [16.4, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.216 [0.110, 0.456] g/100g; Selenium = 59.4 [31.1, 114.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 8.08 [1.98, 29.17] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.68 [0.99, 3.97] mg/100g (wet weight);