DAGUPAN CITY—The true “Valentino” fish is Tilapia and it does its “courting” of female tilapia at midnight till early morning, according to a fishery expert who narrated a love story of this fish.

Their breeding behavior is likened to humans, although the fish seem to be more responsible, said Dr. Westly Rosario, center chief of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center (BFAR-NIFTDC) in this city.

“The male Tilapia, hot to court females, is like a teenager wearing a black suit over a red shirt and smarting a yellow tie”, he said.

While male human beings go through their adolescent stage, Tilapia attains sexual maturity in three to four months, he said.

He said at this stage the males’ built or shape is bulkier, its color changes to dark, almost black color and the edges of the fins become red, while the throat-abdomen area turns yellow.

Note, the male Tilapia seems more responsible than their human counterpart as they build first their house nest before courting or spawning, Rosario said.

Carefully and skillfully, the male builds its nest that looks similar to a wok frying pan, he said. “Smaller males build smaller nests in shallow areas while big ones build bigger nests in deeper areas,” he added.

“Too hot and attractive in its spawning regalia suit, the male Tilapia swims around his nest like a person dancing with fancy steps, to attract the attention of the females,” Rosario said.

And like some human females, “excellent bearing and a nicely built house is something the female Tilapia cannot ignore”, he said.

At this point, the female Tilapia that noticed and got attracted to the male begins to swim, gracefully, in the vicinity of the nest.  “If to a female human being, mapapa-cute na yan,” Rosario said.

The male Tilapia reciprocates the attention by swimming around the nest with the female, like dancing to a sweet music, Rosario said.

He said after the courtship, the female goes to the center of the nest and lays its precious eggs one at a time, until the last egg.

As maternal instincts dictate, the same female begins picking up the eggs into its mouth, but before the picking of eggs is finished, the male positions its papilla (sex organ) beside the remaining eggs, Rosario said.

Then the female tries to pick the papilla of the male thinking that it is one of her eggs, he said. “The excitement caused by the rubbing is enough for the male Tilapia to release milt or sperms. This act fertilizes the eggs in the mouth of the female Tilapia,” Rosario said.

The female Tilapia, now a mother, swims away to take care of her eggs and later, fry (mouthbrood), he added.

But unlike most men, the male Tilapia, however, is polygamous and mates with more than 10 females. “Maybe the number of female partners depends on how ‘maporma’ the male is and how beautiful his house or nest was built,” Rosario added.

If men are choosy about who they mate with, so are the male Tilapia. The female Tilapia that failed to interest the male is gently shooed away, so he can find another interesting male.  “We observe this in in an aquarium,” Rosario said.

Female tilapia, on the other hand, sacrifices a lot because after the fertilization of the eggs in her mouth, she takes care of the eggs/fry in its mouth for weeks, without eating.

“When there is threat or enemy, the fry goes back to the mouth of the female for refuge after which the female swims away to a safer place. Sacrifice,” he said.

“Female Tilapia may have the least number of eggs among fish of the same size, but the survival rate of fry is very high because of excellent maternal care,” he said.

“Medyo good Valentinos lang ang males (The males are quite good Valentine),” he added. (Tita Roces)

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