CHARACTERISTIC OF TILAPIA

Tilapia is a genus of cichlid fishes endemicto freshwater habitats. In the past this was a very large genus including all species with the common name tilapia, but today the vast majority are placed in other general. Example classification of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) can be classified as follows:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Osteichthyes

Subclass: Actinopterygii

Ordo: Percomorpha

Subordo: Percoidea

Family: Cichlidae

Genus: Oreochromis

Spesies: Oreochromis sp.

Tilapia is one of the most important and widespread species in the aquaculture world. Tilapia has a characteristic dark vertical stripe on the caudal, dorsal, and anal fins. The body shape is flat towards the vertical (compress), the eyes are slightly protruding and quite large with the white edges of the body, the lips are thick and usually pop out. This fish has complete fins. The position of the fin ventral to the pectoral is thoracic. The linear line is broken into two, namely the top and bottom. Tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) is known as a sexual dimorphism organism, i.e., male fish show faster growth than female fish and the ability to convert feed is better, so that at the same age male body size is larger than female fish. Single sex tilapia cultivation is considered more profitable in terms of production cost efficiency and increased profit, because it can overcome the 30-50% decrease in biomass at harvest caused by early maturation in mixed-sex populations.

Tilapia can live in deep and wide waters as well as in narrow and shallow ponds. Tilapia can also live in lakes, reservoirs, swamps, rice fields, brackish water ponds, and public cages. The optimal pH value of water for rearing tilapia is 6.5- 8.5. Meanwhile, the dissolved oxygen level is at least 3 ppm. Optimal salinity for red tilapia cultivation is 0-10 ppt. The temperature of the pond or waters that can be tolerated by tilapia is 15-37^oC. The optimum temperature for tilapia growth is 25-30^oC. Therefore, tilapia can be kept in low land up to an altitude of 800 meters above sea level. Tilapia is easy to cultivate and is classified as an omnivorous fish. Fish seeds can eat algae / moss attached to the rocks where they live. Tilapia can also eat plants in aquaculture ponds and are also given various additional feeds such as pellets when cultivated.