Abstract
The exotic cichlid Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) was first recorded from the Shatt Al-Arab River, at Basrah (Abu-al-Khasib), Iraq. This species was the third cichlid recorded in Iraq. O. aureus and Tilapia zillii have also been recorded for the region. Samples were collected by gill nets during November 2013 and April 2014. Specimens ranged from 192 to 292 mm total length and from 136.5 to 500.06 g. in weight. The Nile tilapiais characterized by having regular dark vertical stripes on the caudal fin, dorsal fin with 17-18 spines, 35-40 lateral line scales and 28-31gill rakers.
Highlights
The family Cichlidae consists of 1524 species (Eli, 2005) distributed from South Africa to northern Syria
The present study reports on the first record of O. niloticus in southern Iraq
The Nile tilapia has historically been confused with the blue tilapia O. aureus
Summary
The family Cichlidae (order Perciformes) consists of 1524 species (Eli, 2005) distributed from South Africa to northern Syria. Tilapia was introduced into many countries for aquaculture. These fishes are at present widespread in water bodies of several tropical and subtropical countries, where they have been cultured (Altun et al, 2006). The Nile tilapia, O. niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) is endemic to Africa, but has been introduced in many parts of the world for aquaculture (Vreven et al, 1998). According to Herzog (1969), the Nile tilapia was introduced to fish ponds on Tigris River near Baghdad but did not survive during winter. Al-Sa'adi et al (2012) reported on the occurrence of cichlid fish Tilapia zillii (Gervais, 1848) in the Euphrates River at Al-Musaib City, Babylon province, since 2006. The present study reports on the first record of O. niloticus in southern Iraq
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