Species and Products

TILAPIA or St. Peter's fish, is a spiny-finned freshwater fish of the family Cichlidae, native chiefly to Africa and the Middle East. Fish of the genera Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Tilapia, all commonly known as tilapias, have laterally compressed bodies like those of sunfish, are fast growing, and tolerate brackish water. True tilapias are nest brooders, but species of the other genera incubate their eggs orally; one or both parents carry them in their mouths until (and for a short period after) the young hatch. They are economically important as food fishes, both in their native regions and elsewhere, where they have been introduced or are grown on fish farms. The Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) may have been farmed in ancient Egypt, and the most commercially important tilapia of aquaculture are Oreochromis species and their hybrids. Tilapias have a mild-tasting flesh. Tilapias are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Perciformes, family Cichlidae.

NILE PERCH is a species of freshwater in family Centropomidae of order Perciformes . It is widespread throughout much of the Afrotropic ecozone, being native to the Lake Chad,Congo,Nile, Senegal,Volta, and other river basins like Lake Kyoga. It is silver in colour with a blue tinge. It has a distinctive dark black eye, with a bright yellow outer ring. One of the largest freshwater fishes, it reaches a maximum length of nearly two metres (more than six feet, weighing up to 200 kg (440 lb). Adult Nile perch occupy all habitats of a lake with sufficient oxygen concentrations, while juveniles are restricted to shallow and/or nearshore environments. A fierce predator that dominates its surroundings, the Nile perch feeds on fish, crustaceans and insects; the juveniles also feed on zooplankton.The species is of great commercial importance as a food fish and is also raised in aquaculture.Originally classified as Labrus niloticus, among the marine, the species is also known as the African snook and by a large number of local names in various African languages.