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Tilapia (genus)
Encyclopedia
Tilapia is a large genus
of cichlid
fishes endemic
to Africa
, except for a single species (T. zillii) that also occurs in the Middle East
. The vast majority of the species are from tropical Western
and Middle Africa, but there are also a few species in Northern, Eastern
and Southern Africa
. Many species have quite restricted distributions (e.g., four only in Lake Ejagham
and nine only in Lake Bermin
) and are highly threatened
. A few are very widespread and are important in aquaculture, and have even been introduced
to regions far outside their native range.
The common name "tilapia
" is also used for tilapiine cichlids of the genera Oreochromis
and Sarotherodon
, which were long contained in Tilapia.
There is strong indication that even the remaining Tilapia do not constitute a monophyletic group, but rather an assemblage basal among tilapiines and possibly even paraphyletic with non-tilapiine cichlids. For example, Tilapia bemini
seems to be closer to Astatoreochromis
, and a group containing Tilapia rendalli, Tilapia ruweti and Tilapia zillii is probably even more distant, based on mtDNA sequence
analysis. Research is hampered by the fact that hybridization runs rampant in these fishes, and that judging from mtDNA alone taxa may appear to be closer to others than they actually are. (Nagl et al. 2001)
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of cichlid
Cichlid
Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...
fishes endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, except for a single species (T. zillii) that also occurs in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The vast majority of the species are from tropical Western
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and Middle Africa, but there are also a few species in Northern, Eastern
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
. Many species have quite restricted distributions (e.g., four only in Lake Ejagham
Lake Ejagham
Lake Ejagham is a small lake near Eyumodjock in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Unlike many other lakes in the region, it is not a volcanic lake, but is likely a solution basin formed by groundwater during the last Ice Age. This highly isolated lake is roughly oval in shape, lacks an inflow, but...
and nine only in Lake Bermin
Lake Bermin
Lake Bermin is a small lake in the volcanic chain in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. It is a volcanic lake with a crater rim that rises to a height of about...
) and are highly threatened
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
. A few are very widespread and are important in aquaculture, and have even been introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
to regions far outside their native range.
The common name "tilapia
Tilapia
Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...
" is also used for tilapiine cichlids of the genera Oreochromis
Oreochromis
Oreochromis is a large genus of tilapiine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. Several species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range, and are important in aquaculture...
and Sarotherodon
Sarotherodon
Sarotherodon is a genus of tilapiine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range, and are important in aquaculture. They mainly inhabit fresh and brackish water, but a few can live in salt water...
, which were long contained in Tilapia.
There is strong indication that even the remaining Tilapia do not constitute a monophyletic group, but rather an assemblage basal among tilapiines and possibly even paraphyletic with non-tilapiine cichlids. For example, Tilapia bemini
Tilapia bemini
Tilapia bemini is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
seems to be closer to Astatoreochromis
Astatoreochromis
Astatoreochromis is a small genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to riverine habitats in East Africa. Tilapia bemini, usually placed in the tilapiines, may be rather close to this genus...
, and a group containing Tilapia rendalli, Tilapia ruweti and Tilapia zillii is probably even more distant, based on mtDNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
analysis. Research is hampered by the fact that hybridization runs rampant in these fishes, and that judging from mtDNA alone taxa may appear to be closer to others than they actually are. (Nagl et al. 2001)
Species
- Tilapia bakossiorumTilapia bakossiorumTilapia bakossiorum is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia baloni TrewavasEthylwynn TrewavasDr. Ethelwynn Trewavas was an ichthyologist at the British Museum of Natural History. She was known for her work on the families Cichlidae and Sciaenidae...
& Stewart, 1975 - Tilapia beminiTilapia beminiTilapia bemini is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Thys van den Audenaerde, 1972 - Tilapia bilineata PellegrinJacques PellegrinJacques Pellegrin was a French zoologist.Pellegrin was born in Paris, and studied natural history. In 1894 he became assistant chairman of zoology at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, replacing Léon Vaillant .He got his doctorates in medicine and science...
, 1900 - Tilapia brevimanus BoulengerGeorge Albert BoulengerGeorge Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1911 - Tilapia busumanaTilapia busumanaTilapia busumana is a species of fish from the cichlid family. This vulnerable species is only known from a few river basins and lakes in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana-External links:...
GüntherAlbert C. L. G. GüntherAlbert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1903 - Zebra tilapia, Tilapia buttikoferi Hubrecht, 1881
- Tilapia bythobatesTilapia bythobatesTilapia bythobates is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom ....
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia cabrae Boulenger, 1899
- Tilapia cameronensis Holly, 1927
- Tilapia camerunensis Lönnberg, 1903
- Tilapia cessiana Thys van den Audenaerde, 1968
- Tilapia coffea Thys van den Audenaerde, 1970
- Tilapia congica Poll & Thys van den Audenaerde, 1960
- Tilapia dageti Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971
- Tilapia deckertiTilapia deckertiTilapia deckerti is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Ejagham in western Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom...
Thys van den Audenaerde, 1967 - Tilapia discolor Günther, 1903
- Tilapia ejaghamTilapia ejaghamTilapia ejagham is a species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Ejagham in western Cameroon. It was only scientifically described in 2010 and has therefore not been rated by the IUCN, but it likely faces the same risks as the critically endangered T...
Dunz & Schliewen, 2010 - Tilapia flavaTilapia flavaTilapia flava is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia fusiformeTilapia fusiformeTilapia fusiforme is a species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Ejagham in western Cameroon. It was only scientifically described in 2010 and has therefore not been rated by the IUCN, but it likely faces the same risks as the critically endangered T...
Dunz & Schliewen, 2010 - Tilapia guinasana Trewavas, 1936
- Tilapia guineensis Günther, 1862
- Tilapia gutturosaTilapia gutturosaTilapia gutturosa is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia imbrifernaTilapia imbrifernaTilapia imbriferna is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia ismailiaensis Mekkawy, 1995
- Tilapia jallae Boulenger, 1896
- Tilapia jokaTilapia jokaTilapia joka is a species of cichlid fish from Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa. It is an oval shaped fish with a black body coloring. Eight to nine yellow, transverse stripes mark the body. The head has small, irregular yellow lines that extend from the eye to the snout, forehead, and mouth...
Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969 - Tilapia kottaeTilapia kottaeTilapia kottae is a species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Barombi-ba-Kotto and Lake Mboandong in Cameroon.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. . Downloaded on 5 August 2007....
Lönnberg, 1904 - Tilapia louka Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969
- Tilapia margaritacea Boulenger, 1916
- Tilapia nigransTilapia nigransTilapia nigrans is a species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Ejagham in western Cameroon. It was only scientifically described in 2010 and has therefore not been rated by the IUCN, but it likely faces the same risks as the critically endangered T...
Dunz & Schliewen, 2010 - Spotted tilapiaSpotted tilapiaThe spotted tilapia is a West African fresh and brackish water fish of the cichlid family7. It is also commonly known as the spotted mangrove cichlid or black mangrove cichlid. Spotted mangrove cichlids have a short rounded snout and three anal spines1...
, Tilapia mariae Boulenger, 1899 - Tilapia nyongana Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971
- Tilapia rendalli Boulenger, 1897
- Tilapia rheophila Daget, 1962
- Tilapia ruweti Poll & Thys van den Audenaerde, 1965
- Tilapia snyderaeTilapia snyderaeTilapia snyderae is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia sparrmanii Smith, 1840
- Tilapia spongotroktisTilapia spongotroktisTilapia spongotroktis is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia tholloni Sauvage, 1884)
- Tilapia thysiTilapia thysiTilapia thysi is a critically endangered species of fish in the cichlid family. It is endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. It is threatened by pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's bottom .-Source:* World...
Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey, 1992 - Tilapia walteri Thys van den Audenaerde, 1968
- Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848