The Biology and Culture of Tilapias

The Diet of ~n&a.s

In common with early developmental stages of nearly all fishes, the larvae,
fry and early juvenile tilapias feed on small invertebrates, especially Crustacea
(Le Roux 1956). The transition from an invertebrate diet to the typical
adult diet is usually abrupt (Bowen 1976a; Moriarty et al. 1973) but in some
cases it may occur gradually over the period of a year or more (Whitfield and
Blaber 1978).
The diets of adult tilapias have been reported for more than 17 species
sampled on three continents and a number of island systems (Table 1).
Practically every aquatic animal, vegetable and mineral small enough to pass
through the esophagus has been found in the guts of these fish. Some of this
variety must be attributed to items that are occasionally abundant in the diet
but are rare or absent most of the time and have no long-term significance in
the fish's nutrition. For example, Bruton found that S. mossambicus in Lake
Sibaya fed intensively on formicids for the few days when these were abun.
dant at the lake surface during an annual swarming period, but they did not
occur in the diet at other times of the year (Bruton pen. comm.). To describe
the characteristic diet of a tilapia species, it is necessary to identify those
food items that are consistently present in the diet over long periods of time.

Table 1. Diets reported for adult tilapias in natural habitats.

Species Diet Authority

Sarotherodon

shiranus

S. pangani

S. jipe

S. esculentus

T. rendalli

S. mossambicus

S. aureus

S. niloticus

T. kottae

T. mariae

S. galilaeus

T. zillii

T. guineensis

S. melanotheron

S. variabilis

S. leucostictus

T. sparrmanii

macrophytes, algae, zooplankton

periphyton

periphyton

phytoplankton

macrophytes, attached periphyton

macrophytes, benthic algae, phyto-

plankton, periphyton, zooplankton,

fish larvae, fish eggs, detritus

phytoplankton, zooplankton

phytoplankton

phytoplankton, detritus, invertebrates

phytoplankton, invertebrates

phytoplankton

macrophytes, benthic invertebrates

algae, detritus, sand, invertebrates

algae, detritus, sand, invertebrates

algae

phytoplankton, detritus

periphyton

Bourn 1974

Denny et al. 1978

Denny et al. 1978

Denny et al. 1978;

Fish 1951,1955

Caulton 1976,1977b;

Denny et al. 1978

Bowen 1979,1980b;

Man and Hodgkiss 197713;

Munro 1967; Naik 1973;

Weatherley and Cogger 1977

Fish 1955; Spataru and Zorn

1976,1978

Moriarty and Moriarty 1973a

Corbet et al. 1973

Corbet et al. 1973

Corbet et al. 1973;

Spataru and Zorn 1978

Abdel-Malek 1972;

Buddington 1979

Fagade 1971

Fagade 1971

Fish 1955

Moriarty et al. 1973

Bowen unpublished