Aquatic Dictionary.com - Oreochromis mossambicus defined

(Peters 1852)

Mozambique tilapia, Tilapia du Mozambique, Tilapia del Mozambique, Tilapia, African mouthbrooder, Kurper bream, Fai chau chak ue, Gam san tsak, Wu-Kuo yu, Mozambique mouthbrooder, Java tilapia, Largemouth kurper

Species Details

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Scientific Name:	Oreochromis mossambicus
Family/Order/Class:	Cichlidae (Cichlids) subFamily Pseudocrenilabrinae / Perciformes / Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Common Name:	Mozambique tilapia

Distribution:	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.
Climate:	tropical; 8 - 42°C; 13°S - 35°S
Environment:	benthopelagic; freshwater; brackish; depth range - 10 m
Description:	Most common in blind estuaries and coastal lakes (Ref. 32693). Also found in warm weedy pools of sluggish streams, canals, and ponds (Ref. 5723). Mainly diurnal. May form schools. Omnivorous, feeds on almost anything from algae to insects. Can be reared under hyper-saline conditions (Ref. 4537). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987). Juveniles are carnivorous, adults tend to be herbivorous (Ref. 13517). Exhibits considerable plasticity in its feeding habits as well as in its reproductive biology (Ref. 13544).

Reference: Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2004. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (05/2004) and Trewavas, E.. 1982.

Oreochromis mossambicus is a Mozambique tilapia