Deskripsieng
Body deep; greatest body depth contained 2.3 to 2.9, head depth 3.0 to 4.0 and caudal peduncle depth 6.3 to 7.3 times in SL; head length 2.7 to 3.2 and caudal peduncle length 7.0 to 10.0 in SL; snout length 2.5 to 3.3, horizontal orbital diameter 3.1 to 5.0 and least interorbital width 2.2 to 3.2 to in HL. Mouth terminal; premaxilla and dentary with three or more teeth rows. Upper lateral line with 21 - 23, lower lateral line with 13 - 16 pored scales and longitudinal series with 30 - 35 scales. Transversal series above upper lateral line with 4 - 5 scale rows and below lower lateral line with 8 - 12 scale row. Dorsal fin with XVII-XVIII, 11 - 15, pectoral fin with 14 - 16, pelvic fin with I, 5 and anal fin with III, 8 - 10 rays. Ground color greyish to pale brown; black rounded blotch on posterior margin of opercle; dark-brown transverse bars on flank. Dorsal, anal and pelvic fins hyaline and scattered with dark-brown spots; caudal fin with dark-brown spots united forming transverse stripes. Maximum standard length. 200.0 mm (Graça, Pavanelli, 2007).
Sumber: Peixes da planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná e áreas adjacentes: revised, annotated and updated
Distribusieng
Distribution. Africa, widely introduced everywhere (Eschmeyer et al., 2017), including Brazil.
Sumber: Peixes da planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná e áreas adjacentes: revised, annotated and updated
Biologi & Ekologieng
Habitat. Lakes, backwaters, and slow-flowing rivers. Very common in reservoirs, canals, and other artificial water bodies. Spawns along banks in stagnant or slow-flowing water. A freshwater species that does not inhabit brackish water. Biology. Lives up to 5 years. Matures at 3 – 6 months or much younger, depending on temperature and food availability. Sexually monomorphic, male larger. Spawns when temperatures exceed 20 ° C between April and August in North Africa. Begins spawning in February in Lake Nasser (Egypt). Non-spawning individuals are gregarious along banks. Males form territories and dig shallow depressions in sandy or muddy shores to attract females. Nest is a circular depression up to 100 cm in diameter and 50 cm deep, usually twice length of breeding male. Males often builds their nests close together, forming leks. Females only visit nest to spawn. Courtship lasts several hours. Up to 200 eggs are laid in about 20 portions over 45 – 120 minutes. Eggs are picked up and placed in mouth by female as they are laid, before, during, or after fertilisation. No permanent pair bond; females incubate eggs alone while males court other females. Females may lay a full clutch with one male or several males in a series so that siblings have different fathers. Females do not feed during brood care or take small items of food, some of which are eaten in mouth by young. Water is circulated over eggs by chewing movements of female’s jaws. Females spawn several times during summer, often once a month. Females hold eggs and larvae in their mouths for about 20 days and guard-feeding juveniles for up to 2 weeks. Expanded temperature range: 8 – 42 ° C; natural temperature range: 13 – 33 ° C. Juveniles are omnivorous; juveniles and adults feed mainly on planktonic and epilithic blue-green algae, diatoms, and macrophytes.
Sumber: Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia
Konservasieng
Conservation status. Non-native; LC in its native range; released or escaped from fish farms. It significantly impacts native fish due to its dense population and competition for habitat and food; its nesting activity and territorial behaviour disturb habitat and spawning grounds. International and national agencies that promote its stocking largely ignore these negative impacts. Globally, O. niloticus is the most important tilapia species in aquaculture and also supports major capture fisheries where it is established. It is highly invasive and is known to hybridise with many other Oreochromis species. For this reason, further stocking has been banned in several countries, including South Africa, Malawi, and Zambia. Remarks. This species is important for aquaculture worldwide and is cultivated in many countries, and escapes are expected elsewhere. Several records of O. niloticus from Türkiye are unconfirmed and all these records have been identified as O. aureus.
Sumber: Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia
