Vol. 5(10), pp. 310-317, October 2013
DOI: 10.5897/JENE2013.0397x
ISSN 2006-9847 ©2013 Academic Journals
http://www.academicjournals.org/JENE
Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment
Full Length Research Paper
Invasion of the Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis
mossambicus (Pisces: Cichlidae; Peters, 1852) in the
Yamuna river, Uttar Pradesh, India
Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie1*, Mehraj Din Bhat 1, Mohd Iqbal Khan1, Muni Parveen2, M. H Balkhi 3
and Muneer Ahmad Malla1
1
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Bundelkhand University Jhansi–284 128, U. P., India.
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar–190 006, J & K, India.
3
Faculty of Fisheries, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, India.
2
Accepted 22 August, 2013
Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters, 1852) is a highly successful invader of aquatic ecosystems
due to its adaptable life history, tropic flexibility, ability to tolerate extreme and often
unfavourable environmental conditions, rapid reproduction and maternal care of offsprings .
Upon introduction to areas outside its natural range, these characteristics often give O.
mossambicus a competitive advantage over indigenous fishes. The present study investigated
the population characteristics of non-indigenous Mossambique Tilapia, O. mossambicus, for a period of
12-months from August 2009 to July 2010 in the lower stretch of Yamuna River in India. The
Mossambique Tilapia, O. mossambicus, formed the most abundant fish species in all the catches from
the Yamuna River at all the sampling stations. The gonado-somatic index (GSI) and the presence of all
six gonadal stages confirmed that O. mossambicus has established a breeding population. The GSI for
females indicated year-round reproduction with increased spawning intensity in spring (March to April)
and monsoon (July to August). Males ranged from 142-280.0 mm total length (TL) and females from 130265.0 mm TL. Small juvenile fish were collected every month of the year and multiple size classes
present in sampling catches suggest successful recruitment of young. Adult O. mossambicus
consumed primarily detritus and vegetal matter, though t he die t o f juveniles, collected from
the Yamuna River, was found to be carnivorous. We expected Mozambique tilapia to further
invade the Yamuna River due to natural dispersal. There is a need for more detailed studies of
tilapia abundance, recruitment and local environmental conditions across the country to fully
understand the invasion potential and consequences for the endemic aquatic biodiversity.
Key words: Exotic fish, Oreochromis mossambicus, invasion, colonization, Yamuna River, U.P.
INTRODUCTION
India is a vast country in terms of natural resources and
considered one of the mega-biodiversity countries in the
world (Lakra et al., 2011). The indian mainland is drained
by 15 major, 45 medium and over 120 minor rivers,
besides numerous ephemeral streams (Rao, 1975). The
diverse river system in India harbour one of the richest
fish germplasm resources in the world (Vass et al., 2009),
characterized by many rare and endemic fish species
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mushtaq.ganie16@gmail.com. Tel: +917298709514.
Ganie et al.
and as much as 166 indigenous fish species have so far
been recorded from the rivers of Central India (Sarkar
and Lakra, 2007).
Unfortunately, over the last few decades riverine ecosystems of India has suffered from intense human intervention resulting in habitat loss and degradation and as a
consequence, many fresh water fish species have become
highly endangered, particular in Yamuna basin where
heavy demand is placed on fresh waters. A new and
potentially serious threat to the indigenous fish faunais
the invasion of alien fishes (Singh and Lakra, 2011).
Although the negative effects of introduced species are
widely recognized (Canonico et al., 2005; Lakra et al.,
2008; Singh and Lakra 2006, 2011), many of them are
still being released into the aquatic ecosystems of India
for production enhancement, without consideration of
their potential impact on native fish and fisheries.
The African mouth-brooder cichlid, Oreochromis
mossambicus (Peters 1852), or the Mozambique tilapia,
is native to the eastward flowing rivers of central and
southern Africa (Philippart and Ruwet, 1982; Trewavas,
1982). Due to their perceived utility as an aquaculture
species, O. mossambicus are now widely distributed
around the world (Arthington et al., 1984; Philippart and
Ruwet, 1982). However, O. mossambicus have now fallen
out of favour as a preferred aquaculture species because
of their propensity to ‘stunt’ and their general poor quality
due to the small size of founder stocks (Pullin, 1988).
Invasive populations are now causing environmental and
ecological problems in many countries (Canonico et al.,
2005) and as such, O. mossambicus is listed in the
Global Invasive Species Database (2006) as being in the
top 100 invasive alien species on the planet.
The species has been described as a ‘model invader’
due to a number of key biological characteristics including tolerance to wide ranging ecological conditions,
generalist dietary requirements, rapid reproduction with
maternal care, and the ability to successfully compete
with native fish through aggressive behaviour (Pe´rez et
al., 2006b). Therefore, given suitable environmental conditions, O. mossambicus have become successfully established in almost every region in which they have been
cultured or imported (Costa-Pierce, 2003; Cucherousset
and Olden, 2011; Diana, 2009; Strecker et al., 2011).
Official records show that O. mossambicus was first introduced to India from Srilanka in 1952 and thereafter
stocked in several reservoirs of southern India for production enhancement (Sugunan, 1995). Tilapia now forms
a part of fish fauna in the Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery,
Yamuna and Ganga Rivers (Lakra et al., 2008).
In earlier studies, tilapia attracted the attention of
scientific communities due to its mouth brooding behaviour (Perez et al., 2006; Russell et al., 2012). Tilapia has
remained an objective of astonishment to ethnologists for
years but its present behaviour, that is, prolific feeder and
prolific breeder changed the scenario.
Tilapia is now known for its invasion to the non-native
311
water bodies and destruction of their flora and fauna. The
reported high incidence of O. mossambicus in the catches of artisanal fisheries prompted us to study the population characteristics, that is, the abundance, size range,
food and feeding, gonado-somatic index (GSI), maturity
and breeding so as to ascertain the abundance and establishment of O. mossambicus in the Yamuna River
flowing along Etawa to Hamirpur in the state of Uttar
Pradesh.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area
Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) is one of the largest states in India, located
between 23°52'-31°28'N latitude and 77°04'-84°38'E longitude.
Being land-locked, it is endowed with an abundant supply of inland
water resources (1165 million ha) that are ideal for fisheries and
aquaculture. The availability of 0.72 million ha of running water in
the form of rivers and canals enriches the state with plenty of
ichthyofaunal diversity (Bilgrami, 1991; Kapoor et al., 2002). Yamuna
River, one of the most important Rivers of Indogangetic plains,
originates from Yamnotri glacier near Banderpuch peaks of lower
Himalayas (38° 59° 78° 27°) in the Mussorie range at an elevation
of about 6320 m above mean sea level in the Uttarkashi district of
Uttrakhand. It is the sub-basin of the Ganga River system. It is 1376
sq. km long basin, covering an area of 320 lakh sq. km of which
61750 sq. Km. lies in U.P.
The study area covered approximately 250 km of the river stretch
of the lower Yamuna flowing along the districts of Etawa, Jaluan
and Hamirpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Etawa (S1), Kalpi (S2)
in Jaluan and Hamirpur town (S3) in Hamirpur district were the
study sites as demarcated in Figure 1. These landing sites were
chosen because they are some of the most active, with high artisanal fisheries landings for the Yamuna stretch in the three districts.
Landings from the study sites were therefore considered more
appropriate and more representative.
Collection and identification of fish
The data for this study were collected from the commercial catches
at the fisheries landing sites of three districts viz, Etawa, Jalaun
(Kalpi) and Hamirpur of Uttar-Pradesh state during the period
August 2009 to July 2010 on fortnightly basis. The sampling from
the selected landing sites was conducted for two consecutive days
twice a month in every fifteen days interval in a month from each
landing site. Therefore, the monthly sampling frequency represents
four days at each landing site. Sampling was conducted in the early
mornings or evenings because in these hours all the fresh fish were
brought to the landing sites for marketing. Fishermen generally
used multi-meshed gill nets of mesh size 8.5 to 50 mm as well as
dragnets for fishing. From commercial catches, fishes collected at
the landing centres were measured (total length, TL nearest mm),
and body mass determined (weighed to the nearest gram) using
portable digital balance. Fish identification was confirmed using
reference literature (Jayaram, 1981, 1999; Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
In addition data were also collected from fisheries market Jhansi
and Lucknow because harvests from all these landing sites (Etawa,
Kalpi and Hamirpur) are sold in fish market Jhansi and Lucknow,
which maintain landing records (numbers and body mass).
Relative abundance
From the catch, sorting of fish species was done by fishermen for
312
J. Ecol. Nat. Environ.
Figure 1. Map of the Yamuna River and the portion of the river in the present study.
marketing and sale. The data from such segregated fish groups
were then collected to work out the species contribution. From the
total catch, relative abundance (RA) of a individual fish species at
each study site was estimated following the formula adopted by
Lakra et al. 2010:
Number of samples of particular fish species
RA (%) =
diet and feeding habits of O. mossambicus were determined based
on the contents of the digestive tract and was examined using
Binocular Magnus MXL-Bi stereomicroscope. Different taxa of the
food items were identified, and counted by numerical methods
adopted by Hyslop (1980) and Costal et al. (1992). In the numerical
method, the number of each food item was expressed as the
percentage of the total number of food items found in the stomach.
x 100
Total number of samples
RESULTS
Gonado-somatic index (GSI)
Biodiversity of fish species and catch composition
From the catch, O. mossambicus was separately counted, sexed as
male and female and the gonads of immature, maturing, mature
and spent fish were dissected out, weighed and fixed in 10% formalin for microscopic examinations. The GSI was calculated using the
formula GSI = GW/EBW x100, With GW = gonad mass/weight (g)
and EBW = eviscerated body mass/weight (g). The fecundity of
individual females was determined gravimetrically (to the nearest
gram), and the gonad maturity stages were determined visually
according to reference literature (Nagelkerke and Sibbing, 1996).
The results of present study showed the occurrence of 21
freshwater fish species belonging to 9 Families (Table 1).
The Indian major carps comprising of Catla catla,
Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita constituted 1.10 to
2.15% of total catch and their size ranged from 80 to 500
mm in length and 500 to 7500 g in body mass (Table 2).
The minor carps in the total catch were mainly represented by Labeo calbasu, Cirrhinus reba, Puntius sophore,
Puntius ticto and Puntius ranga. They constituted 15.23–
18.65% with size range of 50 to 350 mm in length and
200–1500 g in body mass (Table 2). Catfishes in general
were represented by Channa striatus, Mystus tengra,
Rita rita, Notopterus notopterus and constituted 07–10%
Food and feeding habits
The intestines of 150 collected specimens from different sampling
sites were cut and fixed in 4% formalin for gut content analysis. The
Ganie et al.
313
Figure 2. Specimen of O. mossambicus collected from Yamuna River.
Table 1. Diversity of fish species*, total mean length (TL) and relative abundance (RA) of fish collected from the Yamuna River at
three study sites (S1, S2, S3).
Specie
Family
Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters)
Gadusa chapra (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Cirrhinus reba (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Cyprinus carpio
Catla catla (Hamilton)
Labeo rohita (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Labeo calbasu (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Puntius ticto (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Puntius sophore (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Puntius ranga (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Mystus tengra ((Hamilton–Buchanan)
Rita rita (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Oreochromis niloticus
Notopterus notopterus (Pallas)
Chitala chitala (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Channa striatus (Bloch)
Mastacembalis armatus (Lacepede)
Glossogobius giuris(Hamilton-Buchanan)
Chanda nama (Hamilton–Buchanan)
Parambassis ranga (Hamilton-Buchanan)
Cichlidae
Clupeidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae
Bagridae
Cichlidae
Notopteridae
Notopteridae
Chandadae
Mastacembelidae
Gobiidae
Ambissidae
Ambissidae
Total length (mm)
Max
Min
220
130
140
60
450
160
220
150
400
230
460
280
500
80
350
140
90
45
90
60
100
70
180
125
260
80
260
190
300
150
800
250
150
100
540
160
160
95
100
40
50
40
S1
24.51
8.09
0.15
4.01
8.32
0.52
1.12
0.81
6.65
1.04
7.73
1.66
2.95
10.37
0.89
1.12
3.51
2.08
4.10
5.56
4.51
RA (%)
S2
26.24
8.87
0.39
3.61
7.95
0.66
0.62
0.93
6.34
0.93
7.60
2.14
3.91
9.80
1.07
0.78
3.20
1.66
4.64
4.48
4.17
S3
24.50
11.52
0.18
4.98
7.86
0.35
0.61
0.26
7.84
1.76
7.55
1.88
3.62
4.48
0.48
0.64
2.60
1.88
4.97
6.64
5.43
*Taxonomic status adapted from Talwar and Jhingran (1991).
of the total catch having body mass range of 500 to 2300
g. Other less abundant catches included Gadusia chapra,
Chitala chitala, Chanda nama, Glossogobius giuris,
Parambassis ranga, Mastacembelus armatus representting 23-30% of total catch (Table 2).
A persual of the present data showed that O. mossambicus
314
J. Ecol. Nat. Environ.
Table 2. Important fish species and their contribution in commercial fishery of the Yamuna River.
Fish group
Fish specie
Indian Major
Carps
Labeo rohita, Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala
Minor Carps
Cat Fishes
Miscellaneous
Exotic
Labeo calbasu, Cirrhinus reba, Puntius sophore, P. ticto,
Puntius ranga
Channa striatus, Mystus tengra, Rita rita,, Notopterus
notopterus
Mastacembelus armatus,Gadusia chapra, Chitala chitala,
Chanda nama, Glossogobius giuris, Parambassis ranga
O. mossambicus,
O. niloticus
Cyprinus carpio
C garipinus
(Mossambique Tilapia) (Figure 2) formed the most
dominant fish species in all the catches from the Yamuna
River at all the sampling stations throughout the sampling
period (Table 1). The relative abundance (RA) of O.
mossambicus ranged from 24.5 to 26.24 % from S1 to S3
(Table 1).
Reproductive activity
Gonadal examination of O. mossambicus in different
catches revealed that immature, maturing, and mature
fishes were sampled. Mature females were found at
smaller size (130-265 mm TL) while mature males were
larger in size (142-280 mm TL). Gonads of 120 examined
specimens from different stations of the river showed that
mature female represented all reproductive stages (1–6)
with varying gonado-somatic index (GSI : 0.2 to 6%). In
general, the highest GSI percentage was recorded during
March-April and July–August (Table 3). A consistent pattern of spawning in O. mossambicus was also found
during July–August when spawning of Indian major carps
(C. catla, L. rohita, and C. mrigala) occured.
Food and feeding
Gut content of tilapia sampled in the present study
showed that they consume a variety of food items
ranging from macrophytes and algae to plankton and
detritus. Trophic spectra of 150 examined specimens of
O. mossambicus showed that there was similarity in the
ingested food at different sites. The analyzed gut contents were Detritus (50.62%), Macrophytes (21.72%),
Filamentous Algae (7.83%), cellular algae (14.42%), zooplankton (3.60%), fish (1.73%) and insect parts (0.26%)
(Figure 3). Juvenile were found to consume fry.
DISCUSSION
O. mossambicus was introduced into India during 1952
Total length
range [mm]
Body mass
range [kg]
Catch contribution
[%] range
80 - 500
0.5-7.5
1.10 – 2.15
50 - 350
0.2-1.5
15.23 – 18.65
80 - 260
0.5- 2.3
7.69 - 10.45
50 - 800
180 - 220
190 - 260
230 - 430
250-780
0.030 – 1.2
0.003 -1.4
0.005 – 1.0
0.25 – 8.5
0.35 – 2.5
23.14 – 30.68
24.51 – 26.24
4.48 --10.37
7.82 – 8.32
Stray catch
for aquaculture purpose and the utilization of O.
mossambicus gradually expanded for enhancing reservoir fishery production (Suguan, 1995; Sugunan, 2000).
After the expansion of the use of O. mossambicus for
enhancement of aquaculture production, tilapia now form
part of the fish fauna in the Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery,
Yamuna and Ganga Rivers (Lakra et al., 2008). Unfortunately, the characteristics (including tolerance to wide
ranging ecological conditions, generalist dietary requirements, rapid reproduction with maternal care, and the
ability to successfully compete with native fish through
aggressive behaviour) that make O. mossambicus desirable as an aquaculture species also predispose it for
success as an invasive species (Canonico et al., 2005).
Invasive populations are now causing environmental and
ecological problems in many countries (Canonico et al.,
2005) and as such, O. mossambicus is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (2006) as being in the top
100 invasive alien species on the planet.
Results of this study showed abundance of O.
mossambicus in the fishery and the presence of all reproductive stages (1–6) in the river-caught O. mossambicus.
This data implied that O. mossambicus has established
breeding populations in the lower stretch of Yamuna
River and the so colonized fishes constituted the bulk of
the catches by commercial fisherman. Similar findings
were obtained from parts of Yamuna (Singh et al., 2010b)
and Jaisamand Lake, Rajasthan (Lakra et al., 2008).
Reproductive activity of O. mossambicus has been reported to be continuous (non seasonal) in females (De Silva
and Chandrasoma, 1980) and the results of the present
study provided first evidence of wild spawning of O.
mossambicus in the Yamuna River forming feral populations. Since Tilapia mossambicus, O. mossambicus, is
known to exhibit early sexual maturity, maternal care of
offsprings, rapid colonization, wide environmental tolerances (Perez et al., 2006; Russell et al., 2012); these
attributes have been considered to be important for facilitating successful invasion of this fish in the Yamuna
Ganie et al.
315
Table 3. Degree of maturation, gonado-somatic index (GSI) the gonad maturity stage and morphology of ovary in different stages of maturity
of O. mossambicus of the Yamuna River.
Stage
1
Degree
maturation
Immature or virgin
and resting adult
2
Early maturing
3
Developing
4
5
6
of
Developed /
Prespawning
Spawning
Spent
GSI
n
Months of Availability
0.2-0.8
12
Throughout
the year
0.4-2.2
20
March to September
3-5
40
March to October
4-6
3-5.5
2-3
20
18
10
March to October
April to October
April to Late October
Ova diameter (mm)
Description
0.044 -0.055
Ovaries very small, thin, thread like
pale in colour, occupying a small
part of the body cavity.
0.053 -0.085
Ovaries slightly larger and increase
in weight and volume with minute
opaque whitish eggs occupied
about half of the body cavity.
0.078-0.85
Ovaries occupied about 2/3 of
abdominal cavity with large pale
yellow eggs.
0.84- 0.96
Ovary more enlarged occupying
almost entire body cavity, with
large number of big, turgid, spherical, translucent, deep yellow ripe
ova
1.0- 1.4
Ovary walls thin almost transparent. Riped eggs are visible
through the ovarian wall and some
riped eggs are present in the
oviduct.
0.050 - 0.16
Ovaries are flaccid, shrinked and
sac like, reduced in volume. Ovary
contains ripped unspawned darkened eggs and a large number of
small ova.
Figure 3. Major food items [%] in the gut of O. mossambicus collected (n = 150)
from the Yamuna River.
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J. Ecol. Nat. Environ.
River. The low GSI values observed in the present study
are consistent with year-round spawning and are similar
to GSI values reported by De silva (1986). The GSI data
coupled with the year round presence of mature females,
occurring in all months except winter months (December
to February), and recruitment of young fish into larger
size classes strongly suggest that Mossambiqan Tilapia
is spawning year round and is established in river Yamuna.
The gut content analysis showed presence of mainly
detritus, plant material, insect parts, algae of similar kind
and small fish, which is in agreement with the findings of
De Moor et al. (1986), Laundau 1992). Juveniles are
carnivorous and eat fry Luna (2012). Gut content analysis
showed similar pattern at all the sampling stations. The
results indicated that ecological conditions in the Yamuna
were homogenizing by the increasing population of O.
mossambicus, which could be a great threat to the ecological integrity for this mighty river sustaining rich fish
biodiversity.
Conclusion
The invasion of O. mossambicus has increasingly takenover at all sites of Yamuna River contributing substantially to the fishery of this river, which is considered
serious in view of sustainability of indigenous fish diversity. Further investigations should be carried out to determine the extent of spread of O. mossambicus in Yamuna
River and to understand its impact on native fish and
fisheries. Suitable control and management methods
should be found. Such information could contribute to the
development of management plans aimed at minimizing
possible impacts of this potential invasive species. Moreover, awareness of the implications concerning this
invasive species should be generated among scientists,
farmers, fishermen, legislators and the general public to
provide for the rigorous application of such regulatory
measures.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank Mr. Mir Shabir Jahar (DBS, Delhi), Mr
Khursheed Ahmad Khan (Animal Breeding and Genetics
Division, SKUAST-K), Mr Arif Ahmad Shah, Ms Aaliya
Mehraj and Ms Mudasir jan (Ichthyology Research Laboratory, University of Kashmir) and Miss Maqsooda Akhtar
(Department of Information Technology and Support
system, University of Kashmir) for their constructive
comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Thanks
are due to the Research scholars of Ichthyology Laboratory, Bundelkhand University Jhansi, India for their help
in field investigations.
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