Oreochromis macrochir
Encyclopedia
Oreochromis macrochir is a species of fish
in the Cichlidae family.
The species is native to the Zambezi Basin, and is also found in Lake Mweru
and Lake Bangweulu
.
It has been used extensively for stocking ponds and dams in other parts of southern Africa, but is little-used elsewhere.
In Lake Mweru it is economically the most important fish.
The fish was introduced into Lake Alaotra
in Madagascar in 1954, and proliferated quickly.
By 1957 it provided 46% of the catch, perhaps because it was moving into an empty ecological niche as a phytophagous species.
The fish reaches a maximum length of 43 centimetres (16.9 in). It lives in fresh water at a depth of from 5 metres (16.4 ft) to 14 metres (45.9 ft) in tropical climates with average temperatures between 18 °C (64.4 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F).
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in the Cichlidae family.
The species is native to the Zambezi Basin, and is also found in Lake Mweru
Lake Mweru
Lake Mweru is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up 110 km of the total length of the Congo, lying between its Luapula River and Luvua River segments.Mweru...
and Lake Bangweulu
Lake Bangweulu
Bangweulu — 'where the water sky meets the sky' — is one of the world's great wetland systems, comprising Lake Bangweulu, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Bangweulu Flats or floodplain...
.
It has been used extensively for stocking ponds and dams in other parts of southern Africa, but is little-used elsewhere.
In Lake Mweru it is economically the most important fish.
The fish was introduced into Lake Alaotra
Lake Alaotra
Lake Alaotra is the largest lake in Madagascar, located in Toamasina Province, in the northern central plateau. Its basin is composed of shallow freshwater lakes and marshes surrounded by areas of dense vegetation. It forms the center of the island's most important rice-growing region...
in Madagascar in 1954, and proliferated quickly.
By 1957 it provided 46% of the catch, perhaps because it was moving into an empty ecological niche as a phytophagous species.
The fish reaches a maximum length of 43 centimetres (16.9 in). It lives in fresh water at a depth of from 5 metres (16.4 ft) to 14 metres (45.9 ft) in tropical climates with average temperatures between 18 °C (64.4 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F).