The spread of the highly adaptive Tilapia fish in the water bodies of the country is causing alarm as its presence was harming the growth of other species, an expert from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University here said on Sunday.

Dr Gulab Khedkar, Director of the Centre for Coastal and Marine Diversity in Ratnagiri. a body under the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, told PTI the Tilapia came into the country during the British era and was highly priced in the aquarium trade, before invading almost every water body and creating survival problems for other species.