NILESH
Cichlid species
Scientific name: Cichili dae
English: Tilapia Cichlids
In Arabic: barbed fins
Common Name: Tilapia
Classified: Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith 1840 .
It is not the only fish of scales species. but also there are in the Nile (specifically) species (such as carp (carp) - peel white&brown –Leps – Nile barracuda - Fahad - Alanom – Roach-Bermuda fish- Rai - trotting - Puffer ...) and some rare species that the information about them is not available now .. As all the previous types, and other will be talked about at extensively in this book.
It characterized by its dorsal long fins, its cylindrical shape , its protruding eyes . It has many speices which are spread all over the world, and different sizes and forms, especially the ornamentation of which is characterized by high attracting for many of the lovers of breeding ornamental fish. And we will try here to present all information that we can provide about these fish.
Home:
Tilapia fish live in fresh water or low salinity in the tropical and subtropical Africa and South America .. (As we know there are different types live in salt water, but with a different nature), and then moved to southern Asia and India. Precisely one of the most fish prevalent species in all continents of the world. Tilapia includes about 100 species spread normaly in Africa, and Central America to Mexico, and the northern part of South America and India.
Africa (the Nile) is a natural habitat for a fish, tilapia, and there are some types of tilapia in the Middle East Syria to the north, with some species in the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.
The current distribution of tilapia was included in addition to the normal distribution areas of South America, Africa and the Far East, other regions such as South Asia and some areas in Europe, as different types of tilapia fish quoted to these areas, grown for various purposes such as controlling weeds, producing baits to catch tuna, in addition to the production of these fish for direct consumption.
As shown at the map.
Tilapia location in water:
Ttilapia exists on the sides of rivers and canals, and not in the middle and in places where there are planting or places to hide and not resides in the running water, but we find it in quiet places. This fish goes out searching for food, particularly in cold temperatures for high and often find them at night .
They are located in groups and squadrons ,build their nests, such as cave dug in the mud or sand like SPOTTED TILAPIA and NILE TILAPIA ,some other species of tilapia live among the rocks such as RED TILAPIA and ROCKY TILAPIA and the best fishing months of tilapia from the end of November to the end of January.
Size:
The wider vicinity of water the greater the size of large tilapia.The fish size varies according to the nature of the place and the speed of renewal of water and the availability of food, especially (protein) needed for young tilapia, which is available in live food such as worms and small fishes .and larger tilapia fish at all exists in Lake Nasser, as the weight of the fish is up to 15 Kg.
Mating seasons:
There are two mating seasons a year, the first starts from the end of March to May, and the second is from September to the beginning of November .At these times the female fish fast because the male tilapia retain eggs in a hole then the female bleach in that hole then the male fertilize the eggs immunized externally then the female keeps eggs in her mouth until they hatch .
after the stage of spraying,in this stage females spray their youngs to swim and in danger they come back rapidly towards mother`s mouth, until the size of the frying are 2 or 3 mm the mother Spray and left them to suffer the bitterness of escaping from natural enemies that feed upon.
History:
The discovery of this fish is from thousands of years, but it is also on of the first fish discovered by a human, specifically been discovered by the ancient Egyptians, so we find it on the walls of many of the Egyptian temples, drawings of the catfish as well. A basis of fisheries in many countries, including Egypt, and Egypt knew tilapia farming for more than 2500 years BC, and so it is the first country in the world's first known farming.Tilapia is considered the the first in Africa and the second in the world after carp in fish farming to the excellent qualities. And more of this subject on this site:
http://gafrd.kenanaonline.com/posts/92687
Tolerances:
Tilapia fish is characterized by that it's one of the most tolerant fishes, because of the nature of their place of origin, especially in the middle of the African continent. The best temperatures where the tilapia fish ready for the process of bleaching is between 22-28 degrees.
And numerous studies have confirmed that the types of tilapia that live on the African continent is the best in bleaching process as mating takes place throughout the year because of the high temperature in these areas in most seasons of the year out.
Tilapia fish characterized by its ability to resist the over crowding and survival in low concentrations of oxygen dissolved in the water.
In terms of food characterized by its ability to diversity in the food, they feed on many types of industrial and natural foods.
Finally, resist diseases and parasites significantly.
-Table shows the degrees of salt tolerance :
Types of tilapia Salinity (‰)
Nile tilapia 10 – 5
Blue Tilapia 15 – 10
Blackchin tilapia 20 – 15
Zilli tilapia more than 20
-Table shows the grades with dissolved oxygen :
Types of tilapia Degrees of dissolved oxygen
Nile tilapia 0.1 mg / l
Blue Tilapia 0.2 mg / l
Blackchin tilapia 0.3 mg / l
Mozambique tilapia 0.1 mg / l
Please note that if the level of dissolved oxygen decreased to 0.3 mg / liter, the tilapia resort to use oxygen near the surface of the water and start to die if exposed to less than 0.3 mg / liter for more than six hours
Tilapia family
1-Tilapia:
Includes: Zilli – it's called green tilapia
Randela.
From its characteristics: they feed on green leaves and each of male and female guard the nests
2-Sures prodn:
includes: Nile tilapia - Mozambique tilapia - Galilian - Alhornom – Oriya
This group is characterized by that the female embraces the eggs until hatching stage as the females and males auspices the babies in the mouth in danger.
And we'll talk here about some of these species, including:
Tilapia mariae
SPOTTED TILAPIA (Green tilapia)
This type is characterized by the high size and bumps of gill arches with a relatively small number (9) lower gill. In addition, the dotted yellow tail in most cases.
Oreochromis niloticus
NILE TILAPIA
Nile tilapia characterized by existence of wide and long lines on the caudal fin, dark brown in color and the fish is dark red with a black pectoral fin tend to redness with lines form obtuse angle by the anal fin with 8-10 rays.Ther are 16-18 thorn bone on the dorsal fin with dark gray edges , the number of gills protrusions ranges between 21-26, up to the stage of puberty during the 5 months. weight of 150-200 grams.
Oreochromis aureus
BLUE TILAPIA (Uriah tilapia)
Blue tilapia does not have lines at the caudal fin ,it has 16 rays or less with the end of the caudal fin with bloody red color and lines are located near the middle of the tail with a bright red color along the edge of the dorsal fin from outside with spots among rays.
Females up to the stage of puberty at the age of 4-5 months ,weight of 100-150 grams.
Sarotherodon melanotheron
BLACKCHIN TILAPIA (Galilean tilapia)
Galilean tilapia characterized by a red color at the lower part of the Caudal fin, a hunchbacked head and the mouth is relatively small.
It also characterized by that the esophageal muscle are similar to the heart muscle. And the fish can survive in low temperatures and fish up to sexual maturity quickly when it reaches the weight of 80-100 g.
oreochromis mossambicus
MOZAMBIQUE TILAPIA
Mozambique tilapia characterized by a tapered mouth to the top ,a rectangular head and its black color. Females of this species like the Blue Tilapia and males are smaller ,characterized by a dark black color. These fish do not reach large sizes like the rest of the tilapia species.
- Knowing that there are many types of other Nile tilapia, Nile tilapia fish for example is just a name for the type of the fish and took that name because it is often the most prevalent in Nile, especially in Uganda and Lake Victoria, the cradle of the Nile. Among these species there are also plenty of species that are Breeding in fish tanks, the most famous of these species ever are Jewel fish. We'll talk extensively about these items later.
For fishing lovers:
As we talked before the tilapia fish inhabit sides of rivers and canals, so when you catch this fish you must consider the quiet places where there are no fast streams of water because it is undoubtedly not Containing swarms of tilapia. But if you want to catch this fish always look for places that are deep and quiet places or shallow waters to some extent that have a grass abundance. And this or that both are valid but only vary the type of tilapia fish. And also found swarms of tilapia in calm waters which are located on the edge of rivers was taken the form of a semi-circle. One of the largest sizes and the most famous of tilapia the Royal tilapia which build nests in the sand through a hole created by the male. So the characteristics of this fish need renewable water and wide places. Certainly when we talk about wide places with sandy nature , the best place houses this fish is Lake Nasser, where it comes every year many local and foreign fishing trips, and also of course the huge Lake Victoria. The Royal tilapia fish there weighs up to 15Kg.
Bait used and the method of fishing:
Most species of tilapia is caught by four or five types of bait, the most famous in order are worms and Reem (kind of algae), then the dough.There is information that should be taken into account before starting to determine the type of bait used to catch fish specially tilapia, that tilapia fish is affected by the type of food it used to get it a day, so we should take into account the nature of the place which in turn determines its usual food.There are also seasons for fishing and each season has its own bait and it depends on the seasons of the year. In winter, for example, the best bait in the morning to fish tilapia is Reem , in summer the best bait in the morning to fish tilapia fish is wheat or dough only if the industry is perfect. But at night in any season of the year there is only one bait and does not deviate it's live worms.
We will take them into details:
Live worms:
Characterized by that it is nearly the favorite of all types of fish. Which resides on the edge of the shallow canals and rich irrigated farmlands after half meter of the surface of the soil approximately.
And is placed in the hook by one of two ways:-
- The first is to put the bait into the hook
to take the shape with leaving a small
part to attract fish when the bait moves
with the water.
- The second is to put two baits in the
rod and this way is called (Spider way) .
This method is used with large volumes
of tilapia, are also used when we sure
that the absence of small fish in water
not to consume it quickly and because
it does not allow to the big fish to get
near to the bait.
The best number of hooks we use with worms are 5, 6, 7 according to the size of tilapia, then tying the hook with string size 25 or 30 depending on size as well, and place a string size 30 or 35 on the machine depending on the string size.
One of these two methods is used in fishing:
The first is (throwing) or reliance on the weight directly without using floats and this method is Irreplaceablein the morning, especially if you go fishing in the river itself, not the small canals. In brief throwing the string with the weight in water and rely on the vision of the movement of the rod tip.
The second is using float by putting a float above the weight and by it we can control the length of the string under the surface of the water , the length varies depending on depth of the water. And reliance here to see the movement of the float in the water.
Wheat:
It's a preferred bait for tilapia, but only if tilapia has been accustomed to this bait, whether the nature of the place accustomed it or that the fisherman to walk by a particular place continuously and always uses this bait.
The best times of fishing using wheat is the
afternoon , because the wheat gas no smell
to attract fish so it's difficult to fish with it at
night, so it's better to fishing with wheat at the
location of sandy soil or clay water to make it
easier for the fish to see the wheat. and fishing
season using wheat is in the summer ,
especially wheat harvests seasons. and
shallow water places is better for using wheat,
but for the deeper places we throw a set of wheat
among Hyacinth (nile flower) if found to attract tilapia to the region.
We prepare the wheat by full boiling to use it for fishing, on the other hand we bring another half boiled set of wheat thrown in the water to attract fish. And to make it more attractive we mix it with flour, extruded feeds or blood to get an attractive smell for tilapia.
With repetition of throwing the wheat in the same place with each fishing day's, we will find tilapia accustomed gathering in this place because of the tilapia fish species nesting on the sides of rivers and canals as long as there is a permanent source of food.
Method of fishing:
As we talked before we fish with wheat in shallow places ,so we use the fishing float with using a very small size of hook such as 10 or 12 then we stick the wheat in the tip of the hook with the use of lightweight and small float then let the hook be anchored at the bottom because the fish eats from the ground.
With shallow water make sure to be invisible to fish with keeping calm and avoid wearing clothes with colors such as clear (blue or red ....) , if possible the camouflaged clothing is the perfect clothing for professionals.
Reem (kind of algae):
It's a kind of algae which is favorite for some fish species, especially the tilapia. Its specifications that are shiny green in color. It located on the stones by the sides of the Nile. It formed especially when in running water
to some extent.
Fishing using Reem in winter in the morning
when the weather is warm over the water to
some extent. In contrast to fishing using
wheat , fishing using Reem is in running water
because it attracts fish with its movement
in the water and also attracts fish by its scent.
Taking into account that Reem should be fresh
when fishing ,keeping it in the refrigerator
wrapped with wet paper retained a degree of humidity so as not to spoil and become unfit for fishing.
Method of fishing:
We use a small size of hooks such as 10 or 12 and placed on a wire size 18 or 20 and the method of placing in the hook is to take a lock of Reem in the form of a lock of hair length of 5 cm and hold it from the center so that we have two sides, and begin wrapping the side on the top hook roll after the other until we reach the top of the hook and let the rest until moves with the water, then begin wrapping the second side to the opposite direction of the first in the same way.
Fishing with Reem use the both ways:-
-The first is reliance on the bullet directly and in this we choose to a light bullet that Reem should be moving in the water so the fish can see it.
- The second is usig the float with large bullet because we are here fishing in running water and the float must be stable to some extent on the water so that we can control it.
Dough:
It's the cheapest bait at all and can be manufactured easily and is the type of bait that amateurs starts with using it because it is for them to lead purpose, but must be borne in mind that the way of making dough is
different depending on the type of the
fish , in our fish here the tilapia fish we
are going to learn how to make the white
dough.
Fishing with dough could be possible
only if we choose the best place, the
best place for fishing using bough is the
quiet place because in running water
the bough could melt from the hook,
and preferably also be the place
accompanied by plants and grass.
Method of fishing:
We use hooks No. 6 or 7 and placed on wire size 30 or 35 and then take a piece of dough and Instills hook in it until all the dough cover the hook.
We can use the both ways, although many people prefer the float:-
The first is (throwing) ,In this method we prefer to use many hooks to entice big fish, with a medium size bullet to sink in the bottom of the water.
- The second is the using the float, use a small bullet and small float , taking into account that the float be close to the river side (tilapia nesting places).
- (Note) the disadvantage of fishing with dough is that fish like Roach, small Ray and Bermuda which found at the river sides greedily devour the bait, making it do not give the opportunity to enter the big fish to the bait.
- And that there are several ways to prepare the dough here we will talk only about how to
Prepare the tilapia fish doughs:
1 - brown dough is a thick textures dough, prepared from the brown flour , it may need to add a little water to reach the desired strength and with the descent of the dough into the water some of the crumbs falling, which attracts fish to it.
2 - white dough consist of white flour may need to add a little water to reach the desired strength.
3 - cooked dough consist of white flour, one cup of water (as needed) and one teaspoon and a half of oil, it is possible to add a clove or two of garlic to it. Where we set the water mixed with oil in a pot on the fire, and when heated the mixture (not to boiling), we add the flour, and we are mixing quickly so as not to damage. And take off the pot and resonates with the confusion continued over and over again until we reach the strength you want and then leave to cool , then it possible to be stored in the refrigerator.
Grapes:
Is one of the toughest fishing methods and requires the great patience because only the large sizes of tilapia love to eat this bait.
We fishing using grapes only in the places that
contain large volumes of tilapia or the places
that cultivated vineyards and here we find
tilapia could use to it. Preferably fishing in the
morning (fishing at night only for catfish),
and we will talk about it later.
Method of fishing:
In grapes we use hook No. 4 or 5 on a wire size 40 or 50 and put from 7 to 10 grains of grapes from the midle and raise on a string. (using yellow or green grapes).
The only method of fishing with grapes is throwing with the use of heavy bullets, and fishing are in wide places in the Nile and the most famous places of fishing at all is the Lake Nasser and Lake Victoria.
Note:
Many fishermen in some places are using a little known insects in fishing tilapia such as mites, cockroaches, etc. They taste good for tilapia
Types of bait Hook size Rod wire size
Wheat 10 – 12 22 – 25
Ream 10 - 12 18 - 22
Worms 6 – 9 25 - 30
Dough 5 – 8 30 - 35
Grapes 4 – 5 40 - 50