Tilapia

The name "tilapia" as a whole comes from the local name of one of the largest fish of this family (in the language of an African tribe living in the area of ​​Lake Malawi ).

However, according to one of the historical jokes , the modern name of this fish was given by Aristotle himself, who, having arrived to visit his pupil Alexander the Great from Egypt to Egypt, and having bitten the fish, clapping his hands, lamented in ancient Greek: “tilapia! tilapia! ”, which means“ such a distant fish! ”. In the sense - “I would be closer, every day I would eat like that”! ^{[5] [6]}

It is believed that the genus tilapia as a whole originates from Asia Minor , some species are of tropical African origin ^[7] however, gradually (with time and with the help of people) representatives of the genus spread widely throughout Africa and most of Asia and organically entered the local freshwater fauna there . It includes many species, subspecies , local variations and naturibrids , often very close, similar to each other and hardly different. Tilapias are almost omnivorous, characterized by unpretentiousness and high endurance to sharp fluctuations in the conditions of existence. The appearance and behavior of these fish is typical of cichlids. Most species form stable "family pairs", incubate eggs and fry in the mouth, have a highly developed signaling system of communication and a pronounced territorial instinct .

Despite the fact that tilapia can be called omnivorous in the full sense of the word, different species differ somewhat in the method and nature of nutrition. For example, Mozambique tilapia , Aurea , Meri and Nile are absolutely omnivorous. In species such as tilapia, Galilean , fleshy and macroscale , an emphasis is observed on the nutrition of plant plankton . And in the diet of tilapia, melanopleura and cilli , large aquatic vegetation predominates, they are more than other types of vegetarians. Scientific studies also note the special role of decomposed organic bottom sediments in the diet of almost all types of tilapias, whose lifestyle is generally associated with continuous digging and “chewing” of soil ^[8] . It can be assumed that it is detrital amino acids that are a kind of accelerator of tilapia growth, which develop very quickly and on average reach puberty already up to a year (males are slightly ahead of females). Under favorable conditions and at a water temperature of 25 - 30 °, further spawning can occur regularly, about once a month.

Most types of tilapia (mainly from the genus Oreochromeis ) after spawning immediately take eggs into their mouths and for a long time (up to a month) “hatch” eggs and fry in their mouths, releasing them longer and longer each day and, thus, gradually accustoming with an independent lifestyle. Perhaps this method of protecting eggs and fry from predators can be called ideal. In addition, a natural incubator in the parents' mouth protects the offspring from fungal and other pathogenic flora. The mucous membrane of the oral cavity of adult fish produces a secret that inhibits undesirable microorganisms. Constantly ventilating and sorting eggs in the mouth, tilapia also rejects “unfrozen”, weakened and diseased eggs, which ensures (by a kind of artificial selection ) even and strong offspring. However, not all tilapias incubate caviar in the mouth. Some species (for example, tilapia tsilli and zebra tilapia ) spawn in the traditional way for fish, in the ground or on stones, subsequently vigilantly and aggressively guarding the territory .

Such a way of life and individualistic inclinations lead to the fact that when kept in an aquarium, tilapias are pugnacious and digging heavily in the ground, not allowing any foreign fish to "their site", and often without leaving a single plant in the vicinity. The content of tilapia requires a very spacious aquarium with a small number of strong plants and numerous shelters and labyrinths of stones. The fish are sociable, distinguished by their cheerful character and very rich behavior. They readily respond to their master, become attached to him, distinguish them from other people and easily develop numerous and complex conditioned reflexes , not inferior in this respect to most familiar pets. In addition, almost all types of tilapia also have hidden hermaphroditism and, if necessary, have the ability to gradually change sex (more often from female to male ) as a result of a complex combination of external and internal factors. For all these reasons, tilapia is a favorite material for biological research in the field of zoopsychology and underwater acoustics .

As an unpretentious and interesting aquarium fish, different types of tilapia have been known since the 19th century (and even in Russia). Here, for example, in 1885, a well-known amateur and, at the same time, natural philosopher Nikolai Zolotnitsky wrote about breeding tilapia of tsilli at home:

This fish is much calmer and far less evil than the rest of the cichlids. It does not rush about when a person approaches the aquarium, swims up to the one who feeds it, and during spawning never rushes to bite.

The aquarium requires medium size and without vegetation. But it feeds mainly only on plants, especially soft ones, like Elodea densa , which should therefore be placed in branches and bunches in the aquarium. Eats, however, daphnia and bloodworms .

Caviar spills onto the sandy bottom cleared of litter, and if you put a flat bowl turned upside down on it or even a saucer, then on them. Sticky caviar .

- Nikolay Zolotnitsky , “ Aquarium of the amateur ”

In gastronomic terms, tilapia has become very popular due to the delicate taste of white meat with a high protein and low fat content.

Tilapia is very unpretentious to the conditions of detention, temperature and water quality. Almost all types of tilapia can live, develop and reproduce normally in fresh, brackish and even sea water, which is a very rare property for fish. Despite the fact that most tilapias are tropical fish, some species can exist at a very wide temperature range (from 10 to 45 ° maximum). Tilapia is also tolerant of reduced oxygen in water. Despite the fact that they are typical bottom fish, if necessary, they can rise into the surface layer and breathe, driving water through the gills from the surface layer of water, more saturated with oxygen, due to contact with the surface layer of air.

Today, tilapia is cultivated very widely, it can be found in artificial reservoirs in almost all countries of Africa , Southeast and Central Asia , as well as in most countries of Latin America , the USA and even in some European countries. In large quantities, tilapia is also grown in China , from where it is exported in industrial quantities. Along with silver carp , tilapia is grown in geothermal waters and cooling pools of nuclear power plants (not with radioactive water). In the United States , an unpretentious and fast-growing hybrid , the so-called “ red tilapia, ” which is a mixture of the albino forms of Mozambique and Nile tilapia , was specially developed for industrial fish farming. In addition to this hybrid, natural species such as golden tilapia, Galilean, melanopleura and macrochira are also grown for industrial purposes. Today, tilapia comes second in the world after carp in importance - as an object of freshwater fish farming.

Tilapia, due to its endurance and omnivorous nature in historical times, was extremely widespread and was found almost throughout the Nile basin . Due to its vibrant, memorable lifestyle and behavior, it (along with the subspecies of tetraodon - fahak ) was the most common species of fish in Egyptian writing and art. Despite the rather nondescript appearance, the absence of bright fins or contrasting coloration, special pools were built near houses and parks for Nile tilapia from the time of the Old Kingdom , in which they were bred and kept as a sacred ( totem ) animal. The first known frescoes with images of these fish in artificial reservoirs date back to the 15th century BC (the times of Tsaritsa Hatshepsut and Amenhotep II ) , but they undoubtedly existed earlier.

Moreover, Nile tilapia was not only kept in rich households and depicted on the walls of tombs, its formalized image firmly entered into ancient Egyptian writing as one of the composite hieroglyphs. The hieroglyph itself, combining two icons located one above the other: water and a fish with a high fin (tilapia nile) was deciphered as the syllable " int ". Gradually simplifying and changing along with the development of writing, this hieroglyph was pronounced “ in ” during the Middle and Late Kingdom , and in Egyptian cursive writing it looked like two curved stripes located one above the other (one of these stripes in the shape of a loop depicted tilapia) .

A female of this species has a striking behavior feature well known to zoologists . From all the dangers and vicissitudes of fate, it saves first caviar, and then a flock of hatching fry - in her mouth. At the same time, she shows miracles of selflessness and sometimes does not take food for more than a week. This striking feature did not escape the attention of observant Egyptians and was repeatedly reproduced as one of the favorite subjects of wall paintings, ornaments and small decorative items. Often, a variety of objects are a naturally reproduced or stylized motif, where well-recognizable images of tilapia, located in a circle or opposite each other, touch the mouth of a small globular cluster, in which one can more or less recognize a formalized image of clumped caviar.

As it happened quite often, a response far from the original (and distorted) to the Egyptians' observations about the unusual behavior of Nile tilapia can be found in Herodotus . In his semi-fantastic presentation, this plot looked something like this: when the females of some large fish descended along the Nile to the sea , at the time of fertilization, they swallowed the seed spewed by the males, and those, in turn, took in their mouth the eggs left by the females in the river on way back.

We can conclude that the knowledge of this very interesting peculiarity of reproduction and protection of offspring, as well as the developed symbolism of the images of Nile tilapia affected, including the images of the religion of the Egyptians. The birth of a new life, the subsequent absorption (darkness) and the new rebirth to the light, which occurs a little later, is actually an allegory of the main elements of the daily solar cycle , in which the heavenly mother absorbs the light (ball of life) at sunset and gives it birth to the dawn . In addition, this theme explains another very common decorative motif, in which tilapia, presented with a lotus flower in the mouth, is a well-known symbol of rebirth, a new life after death.

Another wonderful story related to tilapia, however, in combination with another small Nile fish - Latez , quite often can be found in tombs or wall paintings, one way or another dedicated to funeral rites . The protagonist of this scene, the deceased person, is depicted as one or (more often) in the form of two identical figures, the second of which is his double (or " ka "). Standing on the banks of the Nile opposite each other, these two, apparently, are engaged in fishing , and one of them always catches tilapia, and the second - lathes. In an allegorical form, this picture means a person’s inescapable choice between his soul yesterday and tomorrow, between the path of earthly life and the road of another world.

Quite often, the symbolism of Egyptian frescoes turned into images of early and medieval Christianity. The most famous example in this sense are the surviving frescoes of the Basilica of Mary Magdalene in Vezle built in 1120 . The same two fish - tilapia and lathes - are painted in the second sign of the big Zodiac , framing the image of "Christ in power" as a symbol of power over the world here and beyond.

Somewhat more modest legends are associated with the “ biblical ” and “ evangelical ” past of tilapia fish. In particular, one of the most common restaurant names for tilapia today is: St. Peter's Fish. In Israel, it is called amnon or musht. According to gospel legend, Saint Peter, who was a fisherman in his first profession, caught tilapia many times. In several species of tilapia living in the reservoirs of Israel, two dark spots can be seen behind the gills - the supposedly forever fingerprints of the Apostle Peter (in particular, Sarotherodon galilaeus , or Galilean tilapia has such spots that appear and disappear depending on the state of the fish and lighting) ) In all likelihood, this particular type of tilapia was mentioned twice in the Gospel, in particular, in the famous parable about how on Galilee Lake (where Galilean tilapia is abundant), Jesus fed five thousand hungry people with five loaves of bread and two fish ( Mark 6 : 32-44 ) .

Later, with the shift of the center of civilization to the north, tilapia gradually loses its significance as a symbol and sign for culture: both everyday and high. The Orthodox ideology of Christianity did not welcome excessive “ animalism, ” and the healthy practicality of European burghers led more to what can be read in the second chapter of this article on the industrial cultivation and increasing economic importance of the delicatessen meat of this fish. Therefore, the cultural artifacts of the New and Modern times, when tilapia would somehow emerge in works of art and literature , are rather poor. Из таковых, пожалуй, можно было бы назвать картину известнейшего художника- сюрреалиста Рене Магритта «Соучастие» с изображением окаменевшей исполинской тиляпии ( 1965 год ) ^[9] и фильм режиссёра Безрукова « Шагреневая кость » ( 1993 год ), в котором тиляпия мозамбикская снялась в одной из ролей второго плана.

• Род Coptodon , часто с красной окраской груди и брюха, исключительно либо преимущественно растительноядны.
  • Tilapia bemini Thys van den Audenaerde, 1972 — современное название Coptodon bemini
  • Tilapia cameronensis Holly, 1927
  • Tilapia camerunensis Lönnberg , 1903
  • Tilapia coffea Thys van den Audenaerde, 1970
  • Tilapia congica Poll & Thys van den Audenaerde, 1960
  • Tilapia dageti Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971
  • Tilapia deckerti Thys van den Audenaerde, 1967
  • Tilapia discolor ( Günther , 1903)
  • Tilapia guineensis (Günther, 1862)
  • Tilapia kottae Lönnberg, 1904
  • Tilapia louka Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969
  • Tilapia margaritacea Boulenger , 1916
  • Tilapia nyongana Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971
  • Tilapia rendalli (Boulenger, 1897)
  • Tilapia tholloni ( Sauvage , 1884)
  • Tilapia walteri Thys van den Audenaerde, 1968
  • Tilapia zillii ( Gervais , 1848)
• Подрод Dagetia
  • Tilapia rheophila Daget, 1962.
• Подрод Heterotilapia ; характерны 7—8 тёмных полос на теле.
  • Tilapia buttikoferi ( Hubrecht , 1881).
  • Tilapia cessiana Thys van den Audenaerde, 1968.
• Подрод Neotrewavasiai
  • Tilapia guinasana Trewavas, 1936.
• Подрод Pelmatolapia ; молодые особи с вертикально-полосатой раскраской
  • Tilapia bilineata Pellegrin, 1900.
  • Tilapia brevimanus Boulenger, 1911.
  • Tilapia busumana (Günther, 1903).
  • Tilapia cabrae Boulenger, 1899.
  • Tilapia mariae Boulenger, 1899.
• Подрод Tilapia
  • Tilapia sparrmanii Smith, 1840.
• incertae sedis
  • Tilapia bakossiorum Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia baloni Trewavas & Stewart, 1975.
  • Tilapia bythobates Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia flava Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia gutturosa Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia imbriferna Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia ismailiaensis Mekkawy, 1995.
  • Tilapia jallae (Boulenger, 1896).
  • Tilapia joka Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969.
  • Tilapia ruweti (Poll & Thys van den Audenaerde, 1965). .
  • Tilapia snyderae Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia spongotroktis Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.
  • Tilapia thysi Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992.

• Hans Frey. Das große Lexikon der Aquaristik. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig, 1976.
• Kochetov A. M. Decorative fish farming . - M .: Education, 1991 .-- 384 p. - 300,000 copies. - ISBN 5-09-001433-7 .
• Maris Carmel Betro. "Hiéroglyphes: les mystères de l'écriture", Éditions Flammarion, Paris, 1995.
• Kees H., et al. Ägyptische Schrift und Sprache, Leiden, 1973.

• Rod Tilapia
• Photos of African Cichlids
• Mozambique tilapia in aquarium
• Catalog of photographs. Freshly caught tilapia.
• Pisces of St. Peter