Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) >
Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Tilapia: Bechuana, African native thiape = fish (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Professor Emeritus Dr Jean-Claude Ruwet (d: 2007) was a Belgian ethologist and animal behaviourist at the University of Liège. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on authors: Poll & ThysvandenAudenaerde.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; 10°S - 21°S
Africa: swampy high plateaus of the Congo-Zambezi watershed (Ref. 5163), including the Kasai system (Ref. 120641), Lufira River (Ref. 82322), Lake Mweru (Ref. 82564) and the Luongo (Luapula tributary)(Ref. 27609). Also known from the Okavango delta (Ref. 7248) and (upper) Zambezi (Ref. 11970, 120641). Reported from Zimbabwe (Ref. 13337).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 10.4 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5163)
Occurs in swamps and floodplain habitats, especially enriched pans and well-vegetated shallow littoral margins of drainage rivers. Feeds on detritus, soft plants and insect larvae. Males establish a territory and attract a ripe female to form a pair bond. Females construct a saucer-shaped nest in which eggs are laid and fertilized then tended mainly by the female while the male guards the territory (Ref. 7248).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Teugels, G.G. and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde, 1991. Tilapia. p. 482-508. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse, G.G. Teugels and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 4. (Ref. 5163)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5078 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01445 (0.00674 - 0.03099), b=2.99 (2.82 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.4 ±0.22 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).