Sangeeta Kumari*
Department of Zoology, Jamshedpur Co-Operative College, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India
Received : 22nd November, 2017 ; Revised :29th December, 2017
Abstract: The tropical freshwater cichlidae fish, Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus,linnaeus) is suitable for any aquatic ecosystems due to its adaptable life history, prolific reproduction, maternal care and ability to tolerate adverse environmental conditions. Tilapia is worldwide fish species and due to its potential and affordability it is considered as aquatic chicken. In the present study population structure of exotic fish Tilapia and its impact on indigenous ichthyo fauna of Jayanti sarovar (Jubliee lake) Jamshedpur (India) is described. Results show that fish production and community structure of local fish fauna were adversely affected by high density and abundance of this exotic fish species tilapia. During 2016 fish production was 147 metric tons which was composed by Indian major carps (27%), minor carps (35%) , catfishes (9%) and tilapia(29%) but due to invasion of tilapia it was reduced 105 mt till 2017 and fish production composition was changed and it is contributed by Indian major carps (14%), minor carps (3%), catfishes (30%) and tilapia (53%). The aquatic environment of lake was very suitable for tilapia and its growth in terms of length/weight was minimum 25.0 cm/400 g and maximum 43.5 cm/1620 g during 2016. Study revealed that tilapia is highly invasive due to high abundance and competitive for food and space to Indigenous fish fauna. It is also recommended that there is need of detailed studies on tilapia abundance, recruitment and local environmental conditions to understand the invasion potential and consequences for the endemic aquatic biodiversity.
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