The morphological aspect of a brown tilapia compared to that of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Research Center for Fisheries, National Research and Innovation Agency, Republic of Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: bambang.is031@gmail.com

Abstract

Brown tilapia is the descendant of long-finned ornamental tilapia. This is a new kind of tilapia with normal-sized fins. Thus, it is not suitable as an ornamental fish. Despite this, the feasibility of brown tilapia for food fish should be evaluated. The present study aimed to investigate the morphological aspects of brown tilapia in terms of morphometric, meristic, length-weight relationship, condition factor, morphological abnormality, and fluctuating asymmetry compared to those of the NIRWANA Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) which commonly cultured in Indonesia. The observations were undertaken at the end of the grow-out phase. The grow-out phase was conducted for four months, while the larval rearing and nursery phases were previously conducted for two months. The results showed that, except for the color, the brown tilapia could not be morphologically differentiated from NIRWANA Nile tilapia. The brown tilapia's length-weight relationship and condition factor were similar to those of the NIRWANA Nile tilapia. As such, in NIRWANA Nile tilapia, the brown tilapia exhibited some fluctuating asymmetry with no morphological abnormality. Those overall results suggested that the brown tilapia was considered to have the potential to be developed as a new kind of tilapia food fish.