Mossambica Tilapia

[badflash]

This is one of the few tilapia species that can be owned in California legally. They are a smaller species, but are prolific fry producers and will start reproducing at only 3 months old. Wild varieties are very dark in color. They are salt tolerant and can live in hyper saline water.

These are one of the main fish that hybrids are made from. Most of the orange varieties of hybrids come from this species as it readily produces orange morphs.
This is a poor photo, but shows what a wild mossie and an orange morph that is nearly wild:

The male is in full breeding colors, with a white throat and dark coloration.

These are not tolerant to cold and should be kept at around 85F. Below 60F they die quickly.

Here is a female holding eggs:


Here is a hatch from a single young female only 6" long:



This is a genetically improved orange morph from Mike Sipe's gene line:

[jackalope]

Just a little info here:

The native range of the Mozambique tilapia is the eastward-flowing rivers of Africa, from the lower Zambezi and Shire systems in Mozambique southward in coastal drainages to Algoa Bay in South Africa. The Mozambique tilapia and the Wami tilapia (Tilapia urolepis) are closely related, similar in appearance, and hybridize readily. Trewavas (1968) first recognized them as distinct species.

[badflash]

Genetic tests are showing some interesting things. Outwardly, it is nearly impossible to tell the Wami (AKO O. horonorum or O. hororum) from O. mossambica. Genetic tests show that they O. auria and O. horonorum are more closely related and share a similar sex determionation. O. niloticus uses the common XX, XY sex gentics. O. auria and O. horonorum use ZZ, WZ. This is why interspecies crosses can produce all male hybrids.

Unfortunately, nearly all the aurea or horonorum available are no longer pure enough to produce all male fish.

[Cris Gaston]

Hi badflash. Thanks for directing me to this forum. I would be interested in the "black tilapia" that you mentioned in another forum. If I quess right, it would be O.hornorum X O.mossambicus. A few years ago, there was an outfit here producing such a hybrid but the quality deteriorated after some time. Apparently, the genetic integrity of the breeders was not properly maintained. It's a pity because the hybrids were initially all male and needed no hormones for sex reversal and they were highly tolerant to saline environment. Thanks again.

[badflash]

My blacks are pure O. mossambica. I have male T. hornorum. They are diluted and no longer produce all male fish, but the females end up as big as the males so it isn't and issue in cage culture. Ponds are a problem as the fish reproduce.

[Cris Gaston]

Oh, ok. We have lots of O. mossambica here in the wild. They were originally brought into the Philippines sometime in the late 1950's by a researcher in a batch of a dozen specimen. Obviously, they somehow got loose into and it would be reasonable to assume that all tilapia here in the wild all came from the dozen fish. So, they don't grow big or fast enough for commercial growing.

[badflash]

Yes, but the hybrids DO!

Of course the advantage for the aquaponics farmer is that they can be propogated as a pure strain and still get reasonable fillets after a year.

[GreenPhoenix]

Ok so this is an old thread, but I figured that this might be the best place for me to place this question....

Is there anyone who might be able to send me some Mossambica fingerlings to raise in the system for my class.... The only source that I can find for them locally is about 3 hrs away (one-way), and I cannot justify that for 10 - 15 fish.....

I will pay, I just cannot find a source relatively local to Dallas, TX.

Phoenix

[badflash]

PM sent.

[urbanrunoff]

yep that's what i got.
also tilapia Mama insists very strongly that the water has to remain around 80 degrees to avoid disease and so on....