Animalia Life

Oreochromis esculentus
FAMILY
Cichlidae
TAXONOMY
Tilapia esculenta Graham, 1928, Kenya, Lake Victoria.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Maximum length 19.7 in (50 cm). Relatively deep bodied, with small head. Color olive-brown to dull green, becoming whitish ventrally. Breeding males become red dorsally and black ventrally, except that dorsal fin is also black.
DISTRIBUTION
Lake Victoria, Lake Nabugabo, Lake Kioga, Lake Kwania, the Victoria Nile above Murchison falls, and the Malawa River. Also Lake Gangu, west of Lake Victoria. Introduced into Tanzanian and Ugandan reservoirs.
HABITAT
Inshore waters with aquatic vegetation when young, move into open water as adults, to depths of 164 ft (50 m). Found over muddy bottoms.
BEHAVIOR
Adults school together in open water, following plankton blooms.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Plankton feeder, follows diatom blooms in lakes. Secretes mucous in the mouth that helps trap plankton, forming a bolus for swallowing.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Mouth brooder; fertilization takes place in female’s mouth. Spawns year round. Males aggregate around spawning grounds, where they occupy basin-shaped nests and defend a small territory. Once eggs are fertilized, females move to weed beds with the brood.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Historically an important food fishery in Lake Victoria, but was overfished to the point of commercial extinction in the lake, where introduced tilapiines now predominate.

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