Popular knowledge of Fisheries Science-- Tilapia

English name: Nile tilapia

Land name: African crucian carp, Fushou fish

Taxonomic status: Perciformes, Cichlidae, Tilapia

Morphological features: the side of the body is flat, the back is high. Mouth end position. The edges of the dorsal fin are black; the edges of the anal and caudal fins are reddish; the dorsal and anal fins have black and white spots; the pectoral fins are pink and the ends of the caudal fins are obtusely round. The dorsal side of the body is dark brown and the ventral side is silvery white. There are 8-10 black longitudinal lines on the side of the body.

Ecological habits: tropical medium-sized fish. The survival water temperature is 12-39 ℃, and the optimum growth water temperature is 24-35 ℃. The asphyxiation point of hypoxia tolerance and dissolved oxygen is 0.07~0.23mg/L. Omnivorous. Artificial feeding is not strict on feed. The growth rate of males is significantly faster than that of females. Build nests to lay eggs and hatch in the mouth.

Distribution: native to Africa. It was introduced into Ningxia in the 1970s.

Economic value: one of the world's farmed varieties, an excellent farmed variety recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.