The Biology and Culture of Tilapias

S. andersonii

S. aureus

S. esculentus

S. galilaeus

S. alcalicus grahami

S. leucostictus

S. macrochir

S. melanotheron

S. mortimeri

S. mossambicus

S. niloticus

S. shiranus chilwae

S. spilurus niger

S. variabilis

T. guineensis

T. sparrmanii

T, rendalli

T. zillii

Temperature (OC)

I""4""""' I"l"'-"'Im'

5 10 2l0^30 40

W Cn

Figure 4. Thermal tolerance ranges of tilapias (Sarotherodon and Tilapia). - normal range of temperature variation in natural habitats

(after Welcomme 1972); --- extreme temperatures tolerated in some natural habitats and in culture ponds (after Balarin and Hatton
1979); physiological limits of tolerance as shown by laboratory experiments (after Balarin and Hatton 1979).