Stage 1: 2-3 hrs

Stage 2: 14-30 hrsStage 3: 30-48 hrs

Stage 4: 3 days

Stage 5: 3.75-5 days

Stage 6: 5-6 days

Stage 7: 9-12 days

Growth of tilapia is dependent on stocking rates, food supply and water quality. Males grow faster by 10-20% than females. The growth of tilapia is directly related to the amount of food available in the pond or feeding management.

Tilapia are extremely hardy fish and can withstand adverse water conditions. However, good water management is the key to successful fingerling and food fish production. The water quality should be monitored regularly to find out the condition of the fish.

PARAMETER LEVEL DESCRIPTIONTemperature 25-30°C Optimum for reproduction and growthDO (mg/l) 3 Minimum for optimum growthpH 6.5-9 Optimum for primary reproductionCO2 (mg/l) 20Total ammonia (mg/l) 0.02-0.5Turbidity 30-35 Silt can damageWater current (cm/ sec) 20 For intensive culture flow-through system

WATER TEMPERATURE6 – 10 °C Can be tolerated for a

short periodBelow 12 °C Mortalities can occur due

to cold temp.Below 20 °C Growth and reproduction

are impairedBelow11 – 15 °C

Feeding ceases

20 – 35 °C Favorable for growth28 – 30 °C Optimum for maximum

growthAbove 32 °C Growth rate and food in-

take decreasesAbove 37 °C Increasing mortalities are

likely to occur

BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCESCordillera Administrative Region

BPI Compound, Guisad, Baguio City(074) 443-76-16

bfarcar@yahoo.com

2012

tilapiaEGG TO LARVAE DEVELOPMENT

Sex iDentificatiOn

SPECIES BODY AND FINS GENITAL PAPILLAE FOOD HABITS SPAWNING HABITS

Oreochromis aureus

Bluish body, red margin of dorsal, caudal and anal fins

Translucent and light Plankton feeder Female mouth brooder, male with white gular region

Oreochromis mossambicus

Dark color, bright orange of dorsal, caudal and anal fins

Chalky white, opague

Plankton feeder Female mouth brooder, male with yellow gular region

Oreochromis niloticus

Reddish to white color, prominent bars on caudal fin, white stripes on dorsal and anal fins

Translucent and light Plankton feeder Female mouth brooder, male with red gular region

Oreochromis hornorum

Margin of dorsal and half of caudal fin is bright red, pink or orange

Translucent Plankton feeder Mature males almost entirely black lips

Oreochromis spilurus

Yellowish-blue background color with a series of mid-lateral blotches

Male club shaped with sub-terminal

Plankton feeder Female mouth brooder, matured male golden yellow

Tilapia zilli Greenish-yellow color, yellow green spots on dorsal and caudal fins

Translucent and light Herbivorous Egg-anchorer, male with red breast

Tilapia belong to the family Cichlidae. Three genera are well-known namely Oreochromis, Tilapia and Sarotherodon, of which Nile Tilapia belongs to genus Oreochromis. This species is naturally distributed in Palestine, the Nile River as well as most part of African river and lakes. It was introduced in the Philippines in 1972. Its rising popularity is due to their hardness, resistance to diseases, case of breeding, reasonable growth rate, good taste and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions including temperature and salinity.

Sex identification of tilapia is relatively simple. The male has two openings just in front of anal fin. The large openings is the anus and the smaller opening at the tip is the urogenital pore. The female has three openings: the anus, the genital pore and the urinary pore. The genital papilla is usually smaller in the female. Tilapia attains sexual maturity in three months (O. mossambicus) and four months (O. niloticus) at a length of 6-10 cms.

The Nile Tilapia is a mouth –brooder. Mouth-brooding is an advanced reproductive tactic, a form of intensive care wherein the seed can be protected from the outside environment until their development is more advanced. Female spawn every four to six weeks, but spawn sooner if the eggs are removed for artificial incubation. The number of eggs per spawning is related to the size of the female. A female of about 100 grams may produce ranging from 200 - 1,000 eggs per spawning while a female weighing 100-600 grams can produce 1,000-1,500 pcs or more per spawning (Hepher and Prugunin, 1981).

SpawNing

IntRoductiOn DISTinguishing characteristics of TILAPIA species