---
title: "What the sources say about the Nile Tilapia | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "40 claims from the Nile Tilapia profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Nile Tilapia (*Oreochromis niloticus*)

> 40 claims from the Nile Tilapia profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Nile Tilapia](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/nile-tilapia/)

## Diallo et al. (2023). Oreochromis niloticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T166975A244856058.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2023-1.rlts.t166975a244856058.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: stats.conservationStatus; assessed 2020 (FishBase: Date assessed 06 April 2020), published as the 2023-1 DOI; category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List) |

## Oreochromis niloticus, Nile tilapia. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.de/summary/Oreochromis-niloticus.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A mouth-brooding cichlid | A maternal mouthbrooder (Ref. 2 , 28714 , 52307 , 118638 ), males dig simple pits in shallow water (note: tagline) |
| Rivers, lakes, sewage canals and irrigation channels | Adults occur in a wide variety of freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, sewage canals and irrigation channels (note: stats.habitat) |
| native to the Nile basin, other parts of Africa and coastal rivers of Israel, and widely introduced | naturally occurring in coastal rivers of Israel (Ref. 5166 ), Nile basin (including lake Albert, Edward and Tana) ... Widely introduced for aquaculture (note: stats.habitat) |
| Mainly phytoplankton and benthic algae, plus insect larvae and detritus. | They feed mainly on phytoplankton or benthic algae. Additionally, insect larvae are of some importance, as are aufwuchs and detritus (note: stats.diet) |
| the female carries up to 200 eggs in her mouth until the larvae have absorbed their yolk sacs | Female carries up to 200 eggs in her mouth where the larvae hatch and remain until after the yolk-sac is absorbed. (note: stats.superpower) |
| carry their eggs and young inside their own mouths, a habit called mouthbrooding | Females incubate eggs inside their mouths (approximately for a week) where larvae hatch and remain until the vitellus is reabsorved (note: 'mouthbrooding' as the source's own term) |
| mouthbrooding | A maternal mouthbrooder (note: 'mouthbrooding' as the source's own term) |
| The male digs a simple pit in shallow water | males dig simple pits in shallow water |
| defends the territory around it, and the females come to him | Males set up and defend territory which are visited by the females. |
| Courtship lasts several hours. | Courtship lasts several hours. |
| The eggs are shed in batches and fertilized by the male | Eggs are shed in batches in shallow nest and fertilized by male. |
| the female scoops each batch into her mouth | Each batch of eggs is picked up into oral cavity by female. |
| She holds up to 200 eggs there, and the larvae hatch inside and stay until their yolk sacs | Female carries up to 200 eggs in her mouth where the larvae hatch and remain until after the yolk-sac is absorbed. |
| The female looks after the brood on her own. | Females solely involved in broodcare. |
| Adults reach up to 60 cm in standard length | Max length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed |
| The maximum published weight is 4.3 kg, and the oldest reported age is 9 years. | max. published weight: 4.3 kg (Ref. 40637 ); max. reported age: 9 years |
| Sexual maturity arrives at 3 to 6 months depending on temperature, at about 30 g | Sexual maturity is reached at 3-6 months depending on temperature, reaching about 30 g. |
| spawning happens several times a year | Several yearly spawnings every 30 days. |
| They feed mainly on phytoplankton (tiny drifting algae) or algae growing on the bottom, with some insect larvae. | They feed mainly on phytoplankton or benthic algae. Additionally, insect larvae are of some importance |
| They are mainly active by day, handle brackish water, and do not do well in pure salt water. | They do not do well in pure salt water, but able to survive in brackish water (Ref. 52307 ). Mainly diurnal. |
| The Nile tilapia is native to the Nile basin, Lake Tanganyika and other African lakes and rivers, to West African basins such as the Niger and Senegal, and to coastal rivers of Israel. | naturally occurring in coastal rivers of Israel (Ref. 5166 ), Nile basin (including lake Albert, Edward and Tana), Jebel Marra, Lake Kivu, Lake Tanganyika ... In West Africa natural distribution covers the basins of the Senegal, Gambia, Volta, Niger, Benue and Chad |
| introduced widely for fish farming | Widely introduced for aquaculture |
| FishBase gives a maximum standard length of 60 cm and a maximum published weight of 4.3 kg. | Max length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4967 ); max. published weight: 4.3 kg |
| The oldest age FishBase reports is 9 years. | max. reported age: 9 years |

## Oreochromis niloticus (Nile Tilapia). USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=468

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In the United States it was likely released or escaped from fish farms | It was introduced into open waters, likely through escape or release from fish farms. |
| in Nevada and Arizona its introduction led to the decline of the endangered Moapa dace and Moapa White River springfish | In Nevada and Arizona, the introduction of O. niloticus has resulted in the decline of endangered Moapa Dace and Moapa White River Springfish |
| It can be. Where it has been introduced in the United States, the US Geological Survey says Nile tilapia compete with native fish and are known to eat amphibians and the young of other fish. | Nile Tilapia exert competition pressures on native fish and are known to prey on amphibians and juveniles of other fish species (note: faq 3; scoped to the US source) |

## Li et al. (2015). A Tandem Duplicate of Anti-Müllerian Hormone with a Missense SNP on the Y Chromosome Is Essential for Male Sex Determination in Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. PLOS Genetics.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1005678

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a Y-chromosome gene proved essential for maleness | a Y-linked duplicate of the anti-Mullerian hormone ( amhy ) is essential for male sex determination in tilapia (note: tagline) |
| in one lab strain | demonstrated to be critical for male sex determination in our strain (note: tagline; the study's own strain, a lab population founded from Egyptian fish) |
| males carried a gene called amhy, a copy of the gene amh that is specific to the Y chromosome | amhy , a Y-specific duplicate of the anti-Müllerian hormone ( amh ) gene |
| In a 2015 study of one lab strain | was found and demonstrated to be critical for male sex determination in our strain (note: 2015 is the paper's year; 'lab strain': the founder strain was obtained from the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, NIBB, and the fish were kept under the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals) |
| Researchers used gene editing to knock out amhy in XY fish, and the fish turned into females | CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of amhy in XY fish resulted in male to female sex reversal |
| Making extra Amhy in XX fish did the reverse. | overexpression of Amhy in XX fish ... resulted in female to male sex reversal |
| The authors call amhy the candidate sex-determining gene in their strain | amhy is considered as the candidate sex determining gene in this strain of the Nile tilapia |
| say other strains may have different ones | it is possible that different strain possesses different sex chromosome and different SD genes |

## Castro et al. (2009). Visual communication stimulates reproduction in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.). Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research.

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-879x2009000400009

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| males with visual contact averaged 24.79 courtship events per 30 minutes | Visual communication enhanced the frequency of courtship in males (mean +/- SEM; V: 24.79 +/- 3.30, Ch+V: 20.74 +/- 3.09, Ch: 0.1 +/- 0.07, Iso: 4.68 +/- 1.26 events/30 min (note: V = visual contact; Ch = chemical contact) |
| Males with chemical contact alone averaged 0.1. | Visual communication enhanced the frequency of courtship in males (mean +/- SEM; V: 24.79 +/- 3.30, Ch+V: 20.74 +/- 3.09, Ch: 0.1 +/- 0.07, Iso: 4.68 +/- 1.26 events/30 min (note: Ch = chemical contact only) |
| In a lab test of 56 pairs | Fifty-six pairs were studied (note: 56 = Fifty-six) |
| 14 in each of four setups | maintained for 5 days under one of the four conditions (N = 14 for each condition) (note: the 56 pairs were split across four conditions, so each average is from 14 pairs) |