Urine may not get most species in the mood, but a pheromone in male tilapia urine serves to attract mates, a new study says.

The research may improve how tilapia—the second most farmed fish in the world—is raised and managed for food, experts say. (Read about the decline of American seafood.)

Scientists already knew that pee played a role in how Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, interact with each other, but the exact mechanism was a mystery.

It all starts with the tilapia's social structure, which is surprisingly complex for a creature that many will know only as a breaded fillet.

"It's actually a quite interesting fish, because tilapias are highly social animals, so the males form hierarchies in a so-called spawning arena," said