Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) are mouth-brooders so that the females holding eggs in their mouth sacrifice their somatic growth for reproduction. For this reason, artificial control of reproduction for the culture of this species has been of interest. Manipulation of photoperiod is an emerging technique for such purpose, but little information is available to establish appropriate photoperiod regime. To obtain necessary basic information, sexually mature females were individually accommodated to glass aquarium, and the spawning activity of these females were monitored for two years under natural photoperiod regime. Female tilapia spawned most frequently on March, April and May when the day length gradually increased from 11 hours to 14 hours and least frequently on September, October, November and December when the day length gradually decreased from 13 hours to less than 10 hours in the first year. The decrease of spawning frequency as day length decreased was also observed in the second year, although the increase of spawning frequency as day length increased was less clear. Spawning of female tilapia was less active when the night was dark due to the disappearance of moonlight (Dark Phase), compared to the Phase of Getting Lighter, Light Phase and Phase of Getting Darker. Results from this study suggest that long day length, particularly increasing phase, is favoured for active spawning of Nile tilapia, and that this species, as a tropical fish species, may utilize changing lunar phases as a secondary environmental cue for reproduction.

• Kwon Joon-Yeong
• Kim Jung-Hyun
• Kim Bo-Kyong