Learn & Explore/Species/Introduced & Invasive/Nile Tilapia

Nile Tilapia

Category: Invasive

A fast-growing tilapia that outcompetes native Hawaiian fish.

Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

  • Distinctive vertical stripes on caudal fin and soft dorsal fin  3, 4, 11

  • Red head coloration in breeding males  3, 11

  • Can reach more than 5kg

Nile Tilapia
Photo courtesy of Germano Roberto Schüür under CC 4.0

Habitat

  • Fresh and brackish waters  1

  • Prefers 31-36 ℃

Impacts & Concern

  • High potential to invade and establish itself in almost all tropical regions (Zambrano et al. 2006) and adapt to non-native environments  7

  • Can hybridize with aquaculture stock and be released into the wild (Costa-Pierce 2003) and has already hybrized in Hawaiʻi with Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) (Wu and Yang 2012) and blue tilapia (O. aureus)  12 

  • May negatively impact native fish (Martin et al. 2010) like ʻoʻopu alamoʻo (freshwater goby) 5

  • Reported as a nuisance catch when fishing for ‘ama‘ama or striped mullet (Mugil cephalus)

Introduction

  • May have been brought from Taiwan in 1980 for aquaculture (Wu and Yang 2012) and possibly later escaped  10

  • Most introductions are a result of aquaculture 

Distribution in Hawai‘i

  • Kauaʻi: Not documented

  • Oʻahu: Present in aquaculture  9,12

  • Molokaʻi: Kawela Stream, Kaunakakai Ditch 13

  • Lānaʻi: Not documented

  • Maui: Lahaina Stream, Kahului Stream 13

  • Hawaiʻi Island: ʻAlenaio Stream, Hilo 12,13

* The species is also present in the state in aquaculture sites indicated by the polygon

Regulations

  • Restricted for private and commercial use including research, zoological parks, aquaculture production or non-profit research (§4-71-6.5)

  • Does not include individual possession of an animal as a pet

Related Management ProjectS

  • 2020 fishing tournament in Hilo caught 75 lbs of tilapia and 85 lbs of other non-native fish species.

  • ‘Ama ‘ama fishermen are encouraged to consume Nile tilapia by catch

News

 

 

 

 

References

  1. CABI (2019). Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia) In: Invasive Species Compendium [Data set]. CAB International. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/72086

  2. Costa-Pierce, B.A. (2003) Rapid evolution of an established feral tilapia (Oreochromis spp.): the need to incorporate invasion science into regulatory structures. Biological Invasions, 5, 71–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024094606326

  3. de Moor, I.J., & M.N. Bruton. (1988). Atlas of alien and translocated indigenous aquatic animals in southern Africa. South African National Scientific Programmes Report 144. Foundation for Research Development and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

  4. Hasan, V. & Tamam M.B. (2019). First record of the invasive Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Perciformes, Cichlidae), on Bawean Island, Indonesia. Check List, 15(1), 225–227. https://doi.org/10.15560/15.1.225

  5. Martin C.W., Valentine M.M., & Valentine J.F. (2010). Competitive Interactions between Invasive Nile Tilapia and Native Fish: The Potential for Altered Trophic Exchange and Modification of Food Webs. PLOS ONE, 5(12), e14395. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014395

  6. Mitchell, C., Ogura C., Meadows D.W., Kane A., Strommer L., Fretz S., Leonard D., & McClung A. (2005). Hawai‘i’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Department of Land and Natural Resources. Honolulu, Hawai‘i. 722 pp.

  7. Peterson, M., Slack, W., Grammer, G., Finley, J., Woodley, C., & Partyka, M. (2006). Foraging in non-native environments: comparison of Nile tilapia and three co-occurring native centrarchids in invaded coastal Mississippi watersheds. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 76, 283–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9033-4

  8. Randall, J. E. (1987). Introductions of marine fishes to the Hawaiian Islands. Bulletin of Marine Science, 41(2), 490-502.

  9. Soto, E., McGovern-Hopkins, K., Klinger-Bowen, R., Fox, B., Brock, J., Antonio, N., van der Waal, Z., Rushton, S., Mill, A., & Tamaru, C. (2013). Prevalence of Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis in cultured tilapia on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, 25, 104–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/08997659.2013.781554
  10. Szyper, J.P., Hopkins, K.D., Malchow, W., & Okamura, W. Y. (2000). History and Prospects of Tilapia Stocks in Hawai‘i, U.S.A. In Tilapia Culture in the 21st Century–Proceedings from the Fifth International Symposium on Tilapia Aquaculture, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  11. Trewavas, E. (1983). Tilapiine Fishes of the Genera Sarotherodon, Oreochromis, and Danakilia. The Dorset Press. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.123198
  12. Wu L., & Yang J. (2012). Identifications of Captive and Wild Tilapia Species Existing in Hawai‘i by Mitochondrial DNA Control Region Sequence. PLOS ONE, 7(12), e51731. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051731
  13. Yamasaki, L.S., Iwai, T., Klinger-Bowen, R.C., Weese, D.A., Fowler, C.E., Yacoub, J.L., & Wong, M.A. (2022). Identification of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and its hybrids in natural environments in Hawai‘i. Aquaculture, 550, e737805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737805
  14. Zambrano, L., Martínez-Meyer, E., Menezes, N., & Peterson, A. (2006). Invasive potential of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in American freshwater systems. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 63. https://doi.org/10.1139/F06-088

Other Introduced & Invasive

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Marine

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Freshwater

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Brackish

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Seaweed/Algae