The blue tilapia (''Oreochromis aureus'') is a species of
tilapia
Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...
Western Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurita ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, through introductions it is now also established elsewhere, including parts of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where it has been declared an invasive species and has caused significant
environmental damage
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...
. It is known as the blue kurper in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
Description
In their introduced US range, blue tilapia are usually in length, and reach weights up to . The largest recorded specimen was more than long and weighed more than . Blue tilapia are mouthbrooders, and broods range from 160 to 1600 eggs per female. ''O. aureus'' is primarily herbivorous, but occasionally consumes
zooplankton
Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...
; the young include small invertebrates in their diet.
Range and habitat
The blue tilapia is native to Northern and Western Africa, and the Middle East. In Africa, it is native to the
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesBenue and lower
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...
Rivers. In the Middle East, it is native to the Jordan River. Through introductions, the fish can be found in the United States in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, and
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
. The original stocks of ''O. aureus'' in the United States were from
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
The blue tilapia is primarily a fresh and
brackish
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...
water fish that occurs in a wide range of habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, but it has a high tolerance for salt water and even
hypersaline
A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ).
Specific microbial species can thrive in hi ...
conditions at up to 4.5% salinity (seawater is about 3.5%). It primarily occurs in waters that range from , but tolerates between .
Israel
In Israel, ''Oreochromis aureus'' is also known as Jordan St. Peter's fish and was traditionally coming down the Jordan River from
Lake Huleh
The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior to ...
to the Sea of Galilee. It is black and larger than the white "Common St. Peter's fish" or simply "St. Peter's fish" ('' Coptodon zillii'', ''مشط musht'' in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
and adopted into
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the H ...
, lit. "comb").
Another "St. Peter's fish" is the "Galilee St. Peter's fish" (
mango tilapia
The mango tilapia (''Sarotherodon galilaeus'') is a species of fish from the cichlid family that is native to fresh and brackish waters in Africa and the Levant. Other common names include Galilaea tilapia, Galilean comb, Galilee St. Peter's fis ...
, ''Sarotherodon galileus''; Arabic مشط أبيض ''musht 'abyad''), which is white and also larger than ''C. zillii''.Aharon Geva-Kleinberger, ''Autochthonous Texts in the Arabic Dialect of the Jews of Tiberias'', Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbanden 2009, volume 046, pp. 67 and 107, /ref>
Invasive species
''Oreochromis aureus'' has been introduced in many places around the world for use as a food fish, and frequently in order to control aquatic vegetation. Its presence may have in many cases been mis-documented as '' Oreochromis niloticus'', because the two species were only recently distinguished.
In the United States
Since its introduction into Florida in 1961, the fish has increased its range and frequency of occurrence. It is now the most widespread foreign species in Florida, with established populations as far north as Lake Alice, in Gainesville. It is a major management problem for the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east ...
, where it has changed the fish community structure. The species is also expanding its range in Texas. It was at one time responsible for inhibition of the population of
largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...
in Lake Trinidad (in Henderson County) until it was extirpated, and is implicated in the unionid mussel declines in two bodies of water in Texas. It is also blamed for a severe decline in native fish populations in
Warm Springs Natural Area
The Warm Springs Natural Area, also known as the Warm Springs Ranch, is located near the Moapa Indian Reservation in Clark County, Nevada, at an elevation of . The area is owned by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). The area is a natura ...
aureus
The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cen ...