Tilapia are endemic to Africa, and East Africa including Tanzania is a hotspot of natural diversity for tilapia species

In a recent study by Earlham Institute, a new genomics marker tool has been shown to accurately identify tilapia species and tell apart their hybrids, providing a novel resource to help develop aquaculture and empower conservation in Tanzania, Africa.

Led by the Earlham Institute, alongside the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Roehampton University, Bangor University, the University of Bristol and the University of East Anglia in the UK, the new genomics marker tool enables tilapia species identification and pinpoints hybridisation between invasive and native tilapia species.

Tropical inland aquaculture production has increased rapidly in recent decades to 47m tonne in 2018. Tilapia, a group of cichlid fish dominated by the genus Oreochromis and native to Africa and the Middle East, have been a key part of this expansion — accounting for 5.5m tonnes of the global total.

Tilapia are endemic to Africa, and East Africa including Tanzania is a hotspot of natural diversity for tilapia species. At least eight fully-endemic Oreochromis species are found in Tanzania and an additional 12 species that are endemic to catchments shared with neighbouring countries. Several of these species are adapted to unique environmental conditions, such as elevated temperatures, salinity, and pH and could be of interest for future aquaculture developments.

The study was funded by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Council, the Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust.