Where does tilapia live in its natural habitat? How are tilapia grown? Tilapia - what kind of fish?

On the shelves of our shops and in the households of aquarists, today it is often possible to see such species of fish, which only recently could be read only in encyclopedias. A striking example of this is tilapia.

This fish is especially popular with aquarists, as its behavioral features and appearance are interesting not only for beginners, but even for venerable specialists.

Who is she?

Let us consider in more detail what tilapia is. What kind of fish is that? This is a fairly large genus belonging to the family of Cichlids (Cichlids). It includes at least hundreds of species that are common in the tropics and subtropics. Until recently ichthyologists shared an extensive genus with two others: Oreochromis and Sarotherodon.

To date, this division has been abolished, since the differences between the representatives of these species are minimal. In addition, experts have always added to the difficulties the fact that in natural conditions tilapia is a fish prone to interspecific crossing.

As a result, even in natural reservoirs of Africa, there are so many hybrids that it is often beyond the power of an experienced zoologist to understand their diversity.

The name was given to the whole family by its largest representative, who still lives in the area of the African lake of Malawi. Some scientists argue that the emergence of such an unusual "name" contributed to the famous Aristotle.

It is said that one day he was visiting one friend, on the table of which was just tilapia. "What a fish this!" - exclaimed Archimedes. The scientist was so impressed by the wonderful taste of her fillet that he regretfully remarked: "What a pity that this is a" tilapia ". If you translate this word from the ancient Greek language into Russian, it becomes clear that the learned man was simply saddened by the fact that she is too far away to live.

Appearance and biological features

Appearance is quite specific, since a short body with coarse outlines is somewhat disharmonious with its height, which in some species is 2.5 times longer than its length. The head is also massive and somewhat coarse. Young and female individuals do not differ in saturated color.

Their colors are dominated by grayish and silvery colors. On the posterior margin of the operculum, they have a rather large, rounded spot. This color is associated with habitats where the fish tilapia occurs in nature: where this species is found, there are many bottom sediments and stones on the bottom, among which there are practically no plants for camouflage.

Males are much more beautiful: the color is dominated by a green color with a metallic tint. During the mating games, four large white spots appear on the sides, the lower lip and the gill cover also acquire a white shade. Once the male reaches puberty, its pectoral fins become saturated red, and the body - velvet black. There are white specks on the dorsal and caudal fins.

The teeth of these fishes are weak and short. Scales large. The nature of the food is given by the intestine: it is extremely long, forms a very large number of loops. This is due to the fact that tilapia (which is a fish, you already know) eats a lot of purely plant food.

Features of reproduction

Note that one of the unique features of these fish is their sexual dimorphism. In fact, males and females are well distinguishable, but in most cases the sex of them is a rather conventional concept, since under a certain combination of external and internal factors, nutrition or temperature of the environment from males, males can turn out.

Simply put, among the representatives of this species about 70% of hidden hermaphrodites. That is why this fish has become so widespread: only a couple of individuals of any gender can be released into a body of water, so that in a couple of years an entire population would live in it.

Nature of food

Despite the predominance of vegetation in the food, these fish with full right to that can be called omnivores. The species aurea, meri, as well as the Nile and Mozambican varieties thereof, feed on any organic matter.

If we talk about melanopleuras and cilia, they are generally practically pure vegetarians. In general, scientists have already written more than a dozen monographs on the enormous role of these species in the utilization of bottom sediments.

Geography of distribution

Historical homeland is East Africa. These species are widespread in Zanzibar and Natal. In ancient times, they spread widely across the territory of Israel (where tilapia is known as the "St. Peter's Fish" since the Biblical times), Jordan and Syria. Since 1830 (thanks to the French expeditions), their mass expansion began in Southeast Asia.

In our country fish tilapia (photo of which is in the article) was brought by aquarists. There is evidence that this was done before 1917. Since 1960, it is beginning to be cultivated purposefully in cooling ponds of nuclear power plants, thermal power plants and other industrial facilities, since in these conditions the ability of tilapia to destroy water vegetation becomes important. In the southern regions (Krasnodar, for example) from artificial reservoirs, these fish fell into rivers and ponds.

Notes for aquarists

If you are interested in breeding tilapia in a home aquarium, it should be borne in mind that males of these species differ extreme individualism, needing a large aquarium with a decent bottom area.

For aquarists, they are extremely interesting for their varied behavior and the ability to make contact with a person. So, they quickly begin to recognize their master, easily distinguish him from other people, willingly and completely fearlessly take food from his hands.

Economic importance

But in our country, most species of these fish are not known at all because of their most interesting behavior. The fact is that on the shelves of grocery stores you can see the outlandish "river chicken" or "sea chicken". So how do they cultivate tilapia? Indeed, in natural reservoirs such a volume of catch would have long ago put an end to its fishery!

As we have already mentioned, on an industrial scale, it is often bred in various pond-coolers. But most of the food tilapia today is bred in Southeast Asia, where you can often see giant fish farms. They look like hundreds of small fenced ponds.

In general, the cultivation of these fish is extremely beneficial from an economic point of view. Since they eat almost everything, you will not incur high costs. Unfortunately, indiscrimination in food often plays a bad joke with end-users.

So, some Asian farmers use manure for their feeding. There is nothing unnatural in this, as tilapia perfectly absorbs recycled fiber, but the problem is helminth eggs, which can then remain in the fish for a long time.

Why is it so popular?

Why did representatives of this genus become so prevalent in aquaculture around the world? And we are talking not only about the countries of Asia, but even about North America, where red tilapia was brought out specially for breeding in power plant ponds and some industrial enterprises.

The thing is that the meat of these fish is excellent taste, contains many valuable amino acids and vitamins. In addition, until the industrial condition (from fry to carcass) tilapia comes in just a couple of months, while consuming waste vegetable waste or at all feeding on weeds in ponds.

That's why tilapia (what kind of fish is this, we told) was the second most widespread industrial aquaculture object, behind only some varieties of carp.