As a new "game fish" that was introduced into Florida's lakes and rivers during the early 1960s by the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, the tilapia has fallen short of original expectations.

Often called the Nile perch or Nile bream, the Tilapia nilotica is primarily a vegetarian which grows to four or five pounds and lives in less than pristine waters.

On a fishing rod or cane pole, the tilapia is a tough scrapper. On a dinner table, it's fine fare.

With its long, continuous dorsal fin that sweeps back nearly to its tail fin, the tilapia is a silvery blue-grey in color and has a dark bar running through its lower jaw onto its gills. Its mouth is big, its eyes are large and its lateral line is broken.

The Nile perch is a cichlid, a family of some 600 species distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. It's an important food fish in many parts of the world.

Commission biologists hoped that the tilapia would serve to crowd out such undesirable species as gizzard shad and threadfin minnows while, at the same time, provide an additional target for anglers.

Tilapia aren't nearly as prolific as an adult female shad that yields up to 100,000 eggs. Instead, the tilapia produces between 1,000 and 2,000. However, it spawns frequently--up to eight times a year--and the eggs are actually incubated in the mother's mouth.

When they'll bit a live worm or dough ball, the tilapia fights like a bluegill, using its flat, broad sides to advantage.

While young, the tilapia will include a few insects and tiny crustaceans in its diet. But, as the fish gets older, it is basically vegetarian and will gather in schools to eat algae and aquatic plants.

Unfortunately, the fish often crowds out other fish species in a body of water with the result that a "balanced" lake containing bluegills, bass, shellcrackers, and speckled perch may quickly be transformed into a lake containing only tilapia.

An example of this "take over" would be a pond located across from the Hood Plant in Dunedin. The only thing that I've seen come out of that pond in recent years is the tilapia.

Despite the tilapia's shortcomings, many anglers frequently make the most of the situation by catching a nice mess for dinner on, yes, a hook and line.

One of the bad raps on the tilapia is that it won't bite a hook. Thus, many only go after the fish with a cast net which is legal, providing you get a permit at no charge from the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.

Contrary to popular belief, however, the tilapia will bite a hook--often with gusto. A while back, while driving past the small lake, I noticed several folks pulling fish out at a rapid clip with both cane poles and conventional spinning outfits. After stopping, I could see that most of those caught were running on the plus side of one pound each.

A good way to catch these fish on hook and line is to use a small No. hook and a doughball for bait. Ordinary bread can be used to chum them up.

These particular anglers were using a cork placed about 18 to 24 inches above the hook and bait. Soon as the bobber went down, they'd set the hook and, more often than not, would bring in a nice Nile perch.

Although they'd lose as many as they caught, it appeared as if four of the fishermen caught about two dozen fish in a matter of 45 minutes--not bad for a pleasant interlude on a sunny afternoon.

The African native has been known to attain a length of 12 inches in its first year of growth. A hardy fish, the only limiting factor to its survival in Florida waters seems to be the temperature.

Small fish are in trouble when the water temperatures dip below the 50-degree mark. Larger fish are known to survive 38-degree temperatures for short periods of time. Few seem able to survive constant water temperatures of 55 degrees or less for 30 days or more.

During spawning, the male fertilizes the eggs as soon as they are laid. Following fertilization, the female takes the eggs in her mouth and carries them until they hatch, some 20 days later.

Even after the eggs hatch, the fry swarm in and out of the female's mouth and gill cavities. When danger threatens, they rush inside and won't leave until the "all clear" is sounded.

Like the mullet, another vegetarian, the tilapia's stomach lining is black.

Some biologists feel that the various species of tilapia may be the fish of the future. Because of its prolific nature and rapid rate of growth, they feel that the tilapia could be grown in such numbers as to feed a starving world.