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Daily Bucket: Tilapia [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-02-20
Tilapia are an invasive fish that have been introduced to Florida’s ecosystem.
The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or snakies in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like photos. :)
There are over 100 species in the Tilapia group, found virtually throughout Africa. In appearance, they look something like an American sunfish.
In the 1960's, "aquaculture" was widely embraced as a sustainable method of providing high-quality protein food to people in poverty-stricken areas with few resources. And Tilapia, which eat a varied diet of aquatic plants, algae, and invertebrates, were the fish of choice for these artificial fish farms. As a result, the fish were exported to virtually every tropical area on earth. By the 1970's, it was realized what a mistake this was, as escaped or accidentally-released Tilapia established themselves in dozens of countries from Australia to South America, and became threats to native species. They are now listed as one of the "100 Most Invasive Species".
In Florida, the first established wild populations seem to have been found in Hillsborough County in 1971. These were likely escapees from a series of water-filled phosphate pits, where Tilapia had been introduced ten years earlier to control the overgrowth of Duckweed.
Today, there are several different species of Tilapia established in the US, including the Spotted Tilapia, the Blue Tilapia, the Nile Tilapia, the Redbelly Tilapia, and the Mozambique Tilapia. These freely interbreed and hybridize. The Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus) is the most widespread, found throughout Florida and across the southern US, sometimes extending as far north as Pennsylvania.
The Blue Tilapia is most conspicuous in Florida during the spring breeding season, when the males excavate a large shallow dish-shaped depression in the mud along shallow lake shores. Although these bowl-nests are crowded close together, each male viciously defends his nest against all the others. After attracting a female, the pair will mate and produce thousands of eggs--but these are not laid in the male's nest. Instead, the female takes the fertilized eggs into her mouth and swims away. In a strategy known as "mouth-brooding", she will protect the eggs in her mouth until they hatch, with the tiny baby fishes also dashing into Mommy's mouth whenever they need protection. After about a month, the young fish are big enough to wander off on their own.
Some Tilapia seen in Florida:
Bowl-shaped nests in shallow water
Younglings
And now it is your turn: what's swimming around your neck of the woods? :)
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