Garcia, Eileen Leonor

Gradual salinity acclimatization and growth studies were performed on fry of the spotted tilapia, Tilapia mariae. First, fry were successfully brought to a salinity of 40%. in 8 weeks by gradual weekly increments of 5 %.. Second, fry were exposed separately for nine weeks to salinities of 0, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 30 %.. Fish grew best at 5 and 10 %. (p < 0.05) and least at 30 %.. At nine weeks, fish at 0, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 30%. appeared to be osmoregulating, as indicated by osmolarities of their inner body fluids. These results suggest that Tilapia mariae may become a competitive threat to fishes in native estuarine environments in southern Florida.