Redbelly tilapia
| Redbelly tilapia | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Genus: | Coptodon |
| Species: | C. zillii
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| Binomial name | |
| Coptodon zillii (Gervais, 1848)
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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The redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii,
brackish waters in the northern half of Africa and the Middle East.[1][3] Elsewhere in Africa, Asia, Australia and North America, it has been introduced as a food fish or as a control of aquatic vegetation. Where introduced, it sometimes becomes invasive, threatening the local ecology and species.[3][4][5][6] The redbelly tilapia is an important food fish and sometimes aquacultured.[3][4]
The species was named by
type specimen and sent it to Gervais.[7][failed verification
]
Native distribution and taxonomy
In Africa, the native range of the redbelly tilapia covers the northern half of the continent. In tropical West to Central Africa, from coastal southern
Cichlids are numerous in Africa, but in parts of the redbelly tilapia's range it is one of the few members of the family. In the Maghreb and Sahara (excluding the species-rich Nile), the only others are the
Although
Fayum differ from each other in morphology and colors, but whether this is taxonomically significant is unclear. In contrast, the virtually unknown C. ismailiaensis of northeastern Egypt might only be an aberrant redbelly tilapia; it primarily differs in its unspotted tail.[14]
Habitat and ecology
The redbelly tilapia has a preference for shallow waters with vegetation,[3] but it also occurs in more open habitats like sandy shores and as deep as 30 m (100 ft).[1]
Although primarily a species of fresh and
sea water is c. 3.5%), but the upper breeding limit is at 2.9%.[10] The redbelly tilapia also can live in a wide range of water temperatures, but in the northern part of its range it sometimes falls below its requirements (minimum 6.5–13 °C [43.7–55.4 °F], depending on a range of factors), resulting in large numbers dying.[10] In Alabama, it was necessary to introduce them each year to maintain a population, as they die during the winter.[5] The upper limit typically is 36 °C (97 °F), but it can survive to 42.5 °C (108.5 °F).[3]
Appearance
The redbelly tilapia can reach up to 300 g (11 oz) in weight and 40 cm (16 in) in length, but usually is no more than 30 cm (12 in).[3] In the Middle East, adults typically are 12–22 cm (5–9 in) long.[10] Males tend to grow larger than females, but otherwise the sexes are similar.[4]
Its base color is brownish-
olivaceous and the belly is yellowish or whitish. It often (for example, when agitated) has a faint/poorly defined dark pattern consisting of two horizontal lines on the body crossed by about half a dozen vertical bars. Breeding adults are more greenish overall, have iridescent blue-green spots on the head and bright pinkish-red underparts.[3][15] This species very closely resembles the redbreast tilapia (C. rendalli) and the two are difficult to distinguish; many reports of introduced populations may involve either species.[4][5] The two have separate natural distribution (redbelly tilapia in the northern half of Africa, redbreast tilapia in the southern half), but through introductions their ranges now overlap. Whether they can hybridize is unknown.[4] It has hybridized with the spotted tilapia (Pelmatolapia mariae),[16] a quite distant relative.[13]
Behavior
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As typical of subtropical regions like Israel it only breeds in the summer,[5][10] at water temperatures of at least 20 °C (68 °F).[15] All other cichlids native to Western Asia are mouthbrooders.[10]
The redbelly tilapia mostly feeds on
higher plants (both aquatic plants and land plants that become accessible to the fish), but it also takes smaller quantities of invertebrates and fish eggs.[4][5] Young redbelly tilapias feed extensively on tiny crustaceans.[15]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Coptodon zillii" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Coptodon zillii" in FishBase. November 2019 version.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Genner, M.J.; G.F. Turner; B.P. Ngatunga (2018). "A Guide to Tilapia Fishes of Tanzania" (PDF). Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nico, L.; M. Neilson; B. Loftus (2019). "Tilapia zillii (Gervais, 1848)". U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ "Tilapia zillii (redbelly tilapia)". CABI – Invasive Species Compendium. 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (a-g)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ .
- ^ PMID 27720144.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gophen, M. (2018). Ecological Research in the Lake Kinneret and Hula Valley (Israel) Ecosystems. pp. 252–263.
- ^ Trape, S. (2018). "Epiplatys bifasciatus (Steindachner, 1881) (Nothobranchiidae) and Hemichromis fasciatus Peters, 1852 (Cichlidae), two relict fish species in the Sahara desert". Bonn Zoological Bulletin. 67 (1): 37–40.
- S2CID 55300630.
- ^ PMID 23542002.
- .
- ^ a b c d "California Fish Website — Tilapia". University of California. 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- JSTOR 1445286.
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