Evaluation of performance of different tilapia species
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Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Arkansas
Abstract
A growth trial was carried out for 90 days to compare the growth performance and survival rate of Nile
tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Jipe tilapia (Oreochromis jipe), Wami tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis
hornorum) and Ruvuma tilapia (Oreochromis ruvumae).. The study was conducted on-station at Sokoine
University of Agriculture (SUA) and on-farm in ponds of small-scale fish farmers at Mkuyuni, Morogoro,
Tanzania. In the on-farm experiment, the mean final weight, weight gain, growth rate, final length and
final width differed significantly (P<0.001) among the species. Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) gained more
weight (61.3g) than O. hornorum (35.3g) and O. ruvumae (13.8g). The final weight, length and width of
O. niloticus exceeded that of O. hornorum by 26.2g, 2.4cm and 0.7cm, respectively. The mean final
weight, length and width of O. hornorum were higher than those of O. ruvumae by 23.6g, 2.7cm and 1cm,
respectively.
The results from the on-station experiment showed that there was no significant (P>0.05) difference
between O. niloticus and O. hornorum, but the two species differed significantly (P<0.01) from O.
ruvumae and O. jipe. The O. niloticus had the highest weight gain (24.2 g), growth rate (0.3g/d), final
length (11.5cm) and final width (3.3cm) and it was followed by O. hornorum. The O. ruvumae and O.
jipe showed poor performance in all parameters. The growth performances of O. niloticus and O.
hornorum were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the on-farm experiment than in the on-station experiment,
but that of O. ruvumae were not significantly (P≥0.05) different between the two locations. The highest
survival rates (85.6% (on-farm) and 100% (on-station)) were observed on O. niloticus, followed by O.
ruvumae. Oreochromis urolepis hornorum had the lowest survival rate (63.5 – 66.7%) in both
experiments. For all species, fish reared at the on-station showed higher survival rate (66.7 – 100%)
compared to those reared in farmers’ ponds (63.5 – 85.6%).
The results for chemical composition of the fish bodies indicated that the species did not differ
significantly in dry matter (DM) and ash contents, but differed significantly (P<0.05) in crude protein
(CP) and fat (EE) contents for the on-farm experiment. Oreochromis urolepis hornorum had the highest
CP content (58.09%) and EE (30.12%) while O. niloticus had the lowest values (52.23% CP and 16.83%
EE). For the on-station experiment, the DM, CP and ash contents of the species were not significantly
(P≥0.05) different. It is concluded that Oreochromis niloticus is superior to Oreochromis urolepis
hornorum, Oreochromis jipe, and Oreochromis ruvumae in terms of growth performance and survival
rate.
Description
Investigation Report
Keywords
Performance, Tilapia, Species