Blackchin
BLACKCHIN TILAPIA Sarotherodon melanotheron Rüppell, 1852 These dull silvery or faintly yellowish fish are named for the black coloration often present under the chin. When breeding, males may become darker overall. These fish are mouthbrooders can sometimes be seen holding eggs or fry in their mouths (as the fish above may be doing). Originally from brackish estuaries and lagoons of west Africa from Mauritania to Angola, they were introduced to Hawai`i from New York in 1962 for possible use as a baitfish in the tuna fishery. After proving unsuitable, they escaped their holding tanks and spread quickly through the fresh and brackish waters of O`ahu. By the 1970s they were abundant in Lake Wilson in Wahiawa and various other O`ahu reservoirs, as well as in many lower streams and estuaries. Eventually they displaced the Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) as O`ahu's most common tilapia. Tolerant of high salinities that would quickly kill other freshwater fishes, they have penetrated protected coastal waters and now occur in such places as Pearl Harbor, Honolulu Harbor, the Ala Wai Canal, and along Waikiki Beach. Off beaches and open coasts they seem to be staying close to shore in waters less than about 6 ft. deep and have not invaded the deeper reefs. Most likely they cannot compete with true marine fish. Hopefully that will not change in the near future. On O`ahu, a good place to see "saltwater tilapia" is at the stone jetty between the Waikiki Aquarium and the Kapahulu Groin (Kapahulu Ave.) at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, where you can easily spot them from shore swimming in small groups. To about 10 in. Widespread throughout the tropics and subtropics in fresh, brackish, and protected marine wate
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