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Oreochromis mossambicus  (Peters, 1852)

Mozambique tilapia
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Oreochromis mossambicus
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country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence:
Salinity:
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information:
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterigi (pesci con pinne raggiate) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Тилапия мозамбикская, Tilapia du Mozambique, Tilapia del Mozambique, ... more

Issue
Oreochromis mossambicus bassamkhalafi is placed only under the genus Oreochromis in Eschmeyer (CofF ver. May 2011: Ref. 86870). It is treated here questionably a synonym of Oreochromis mossambicus.

Main reference

Trewavas, E. 1982. (Ref. 1)
 Bibliografia | Biblio | Coordinatore : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaboratori

Size / Peso / Age

Max length : 39.0 cm SL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 21); common length : 35.0 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 9987); Peso massimo pubblicato: 1.1 kg (Ref. 40637); Età massima riportata: 11 anni (Ref. 164)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 15.4, range 6 - 28 cm

Ambiente

; acqua dolce; salmastro benthopelagico; amfidromo (Ref. 51243); distribuzione batimetrica 1 - 12 m (Ref. 57895)

Clima / Range

Tropical; 17°C - 35°C (Ref. 3), preferred ?; 13°S - 35°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribuzione

Africa: Lower Zambezi, Lower Shiré and coastal plains from Zambezi delta to Algoa Bay. Occurs southwards to the Brak River in the eastern Cape and in the Transvaal in the Limpopo system (Ref. 6465). Widely introduced for aquaculture, but escaped and established itself in the wild in many countries, often outcompeting local species (Ref. 12217). Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.
 Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Introduzioni

Short description

Spine dorsali (totale): 15 - 18; Raggi dorsali molli (totale): 10-13; Spine anali 3; Raggi anali molli: 7 - 12; Vertebre: 28 - 31. Diagnosis: snout long; forehead with relatively large scales, starting with 2 scales between the eyes followed by 9 scales up to the dorsal fin (Ref. 3058, 3060). Adult males develop a pointed, duckbill-like snout (Ref. 52307) due to enlarged jaws, often causing the upper profile to become concave (Ref. 2, 7248, 12524, 13337, 52307), but upper profile convex in smaller specimens (Ref. 1870, 6460). Pharyngeal teeth very fine, the dentigerous area with narrow lobes, the blade in adults longer than dentigerous area; 28-31 vertebrae; 3 anal spines; 14-20 lower gill-rakers; genital papilla of males simple or with a shallow distal notch; caudal fin not densely scaled; female and non-breeding male silvery with 2-5 mid-lateral blotches and some of a more dorsal series; breeding male black with white lower parts of head and red margins to dorsal and caudal fins (Ref. 2).

Biologia     Glossario (es. epibenthic)

Adults thrive in standing waters (Ref. 7248, 12501). Inhabit reservoirs, rivers, creeks, drains, swamps and tidal creeks; commonly over mud bottoms, often in well-vegetated areas (Ref. 44894). Also found in warm weedy pools of sluggish streams, canals, and ponds (Ref. 5723). Most common in blind estuaries and coastal lakes (Ref. 32693), but usually absent from permanently open estuaries and open sea (Ref. 6465) and from fast-flowing waters (Ref. 7248, 12501). Normally not found at high altitudes (Ref. 6465). Able to survive extreme reduction of temporary water bodies (Ref. 2, 27445). Highly euryhaline (Ref. 2, 3, 23, 58, 61, 6465, 12501, 12522, 12524, 13337, 27445, 55352). Grow and reproduce in fresh-, brackish and seawater (Ref. 2, 21, 23, 61, 5214, 27445, 36683, 54362). Can be reared under hyper-saline conditions (Ref. 4537, 44894, 52307). Tolerate low dissolved oxygen levels (Ref. 3, 23, 6465) and can utilise atmospheric oxygen when water oxygen levels drop (Ref. 61, 6465). Mainly diurnal. May form schools (Ref. 3, 4537, 44894). Omnivorous (Ref. 21, 12524), feed mainly on algae and phytoplankton (Ref. 4537, 7248, 12501, 12522, 12524, 13337, 36683, 44894, 52307) but also take some zooplankton, small insects and their larvae (Ref. 4537, 7248, 12524, 13337, 44894, 52307), shrimps (Ref. 12524, 13337), earthworms (Ref. 12501) and aquatic macrophytes (Ref. 6465). Juveniles carnivorous/omnivorous, adults tend to be herbivorous or detritus feeders (Ref. 2, 6465, 13517). Large individuals have been reported to prey on small fishes (Ref. 2, 6465, 12501, 12522), and occasionally cannibalise their own young (Ref. 2, 6465). Exhibit considerable plasticity in their feeding habits (Ref. 6465, 13544) as well as in their reproductive biology (Ref. 13544). Polygamous (Ref. 12524, 13337), maternal mouthbrooder (Ref. 1, 5214, 12524, 13337). Reach sexual maturity at 15 centimeter length (Ref. 44894), but stunted fish may breed at 6-7 centimeters and at an age of just over 2 months (Ref. 52307). Fecundity high (Ref. 55352). Extended temperature range 8-42 °C, natural temperature range 17-35°C (Ref. 3), with salinity-dependent difference in temperature tolerance (Ref. 2, 23). Somewhat aggressive toward other species (Ref. 36683). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987). Excellent palatability (Ref. 6465), with small head and large dress-out weight (Ref. 61), and filets without small bones (Ref. 57960). Used extensively in biological, physiological and behavioural research (Ref. 7248). Translocated and introduced for aquaculture, sport fishing, stocking man-made lakes and biological control of nuisance plants and animals (Ref. 6465). Eurytopic; a most successful and vagile invader (Ref. 6465).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Near Threatened (NT) 

Threat to humans

  Potential pest



Human uses

Pesca: elevato interesse commerciale; Acquacoltura: commerciale; Pesce da pesca sportiva: si; Acquario: Commerciale

Strumenti

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Giuda pratica | Chiavi di identificazione | Generatore frequenze di lunghezza | Strumento Parametri Biologici | Mappa dei ritrovamenti | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Nomi Comuni | Photos

Fonti Internet

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | BOLDSystems | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(Acquacoltura: production; pesca: production, species profile; publication : search) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | Database Nazionali | Acquari pubblici | PubMed | RFE Identification | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, ricerca) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.5000 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 2.2   ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilienza (Ref. 69278)
 Medio, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 1.4 - 4.4 anni (K=0.2-0.5; tm<1; tmax=11)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 Low to moderate vulnerability (32 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Unknown