Spotted tilapia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spotted tilapia |
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The spotted tilapia (Pelmatolapia mariae) is a type of fish from the cichlid family. People also call it the spotted mangrove cichlid or black mangrove cichlid. This fish naturally lives in fresh and brackish (slightly salty) waters in West and Central Africa. However, it has been moved to other places and is now considered an invasive species there.
Spotted tilapia can have many babies and don't need special food. They can also live in many different water conditions, like various temperatures, salt levels, and even polluted areas. These traits help them quickly take over new habitats. Spotted tilapia are usually aggressive and like to protect their own space.
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What Spotted Tilapia Look Like
Spotted tilapia have a short, rounded snout and three sharp fins on their underside. Their color ranges from dark olive green to light yellowish. They have eight or nine dark stripes on their sides. These stripes are easier to see on young fish than on adults. They also have two to six dark spots between the stripes. These fish can grow up to about 32 centimeters (1 foot) long. They grow quickly and become adults fast.
Where Spotted Tilapia Live
Spotted tilapia are originally from Africa, found from the Côte d'Ivoire to Ghana, and from Benin to Cameroon. They have also created large wild groups outside their native homes, for example, in Florida and Australia. Spotted tilapia can live in many different places. You can find them in still water and flowing rivers, in shallow and deep areas. They live in places with little or no plant cover, as well as in rocky spots or areas with lots of debris.
Reproduction and Parental Care
Like many other tilapiine cichlids, the spotted tilapia is known for being very adaptable and having many offspring. They start breeding when they are about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long. They usually breed all year, with busy times in November, March-April, and July-September. A female can lay up to 1,800 eggs, usually on sunken logs, rocks, or plants. The eggs hatch in about three days.
Spotted tilapia are monogamous fish, meaning one male and one female stay together. Both parents help care for their young. Studies show that the size of the eggs tends to get bigger with more parental care. Males and females have specific jobs to make sure their babies are safe. The female cleans an area on rocks to make a nest. After laying eggs, the female takes care of them. The male stays about 2 to 3 meters (7 to 10 feet) away. He mostly rests, only occasionally eating or chasing away predators.
When the babies are two or three days old, they leave the nest and swim together in a group. At this point, the parents switch roles. The male becomes more active, and the female spends more time away from the young. She guards the front of the group, chasing away any predators. This parental care continues until the fish are about 2.5 to 3 centimeters (1 inch) long. This shared parenting helps explain why black tilapia can live in so many different places and become stronger than other fish in the same area.
Spotted Tilapia in Nature
Spotted tilapia mainly eat plants. The male and female never eat at the same time. One will eat while the other stays close by, then they switch. Several things can cause spotted tilapia to die naturally. Their predators include the electric catfish (Malapterurus electricus), which eats their eggs. African pike and obscure snakehead fish eat adult tilapia. Spotted tilapia can also get serious gut infections from tiny worms called nematode parasites, which can kill them. Sometimes, heavy rain causes floods that wash them from streams into small pools. When the rain stops, these pools dry up, and the fish die. Spotted tilapia are important for the environment and for business. People often catch them or raise them in fish farms (this is called aquaculture).
When Spotted Tilapia Become a Problem
In places where the spotted tilapia has been introduced (meaning brought there by people), it is considered an invasive species. This means it causes harm to the local environment. A big problem with spotted tilapia in these new areas is that they often become the main fish in many lakes, rivers, and canals. They can sometimes make up more than half of all the fish in a place. This causes other fish populations, which used to be common, to decrease. Spotted tilapia are strong, aggressive, and very protective of their space. They can upset the living areas of other fish.
Spotted Tilapia in Australia
It is thought that spotted tilapia arrived in Australia in a few steps. First, it's believed that all tilapia in Australia came from a small number of fish imported for the home aquarium trade from Singapore or Indonesia. Then, people who liked fish spread them around Australia. Later, some spotted tilapia escaped or were released, and they started to create their own wild groups. The spread of spotted tilapia in Australia could harm the native fish that already live there. Since they often become the main fish where they live, their growth in Australia could be bad for other fish.
Another way spotted tilapia have become a problem in Australia is that they have been found living in the cooling pond of the Hazelwood Power Station in Victoria, Australia. They also live in the creek just below the pond. The water temperature in Victoria is usually too cold for them to live outside this warm area. However, it is still a nuisance for the power station that they live there.
Australia's Response to Spotted Tilapia
Because spotted tilapia are seen as a "class 3 noxious fish" in Australia, it is against the law to own, sell, or buy this fish in New South Wales, Australia, without a special permit. NSW fisheries closely watch the spotted tilapia groups. There are big fines, up to AU$11,000, if you are caught owning, buying, or selling this fish. The NSW fisheries have the right to take the fish and destroy them if needed.
Why They Are Called "Mariae"
The second part of their scientific name, mariae, honors an English writer and explorer named Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1862-1900). She had obtained the first example of this cichlid that scientists used to describe the species.
