Oreochromis mortimeri, Kariba tilapia : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

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Oreochromis mortimeri (Trewavas, 1966)

Kariba tilapia
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology: Oreochromis: Latin, aurum = gold + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch (Ref. 45335);  mortimeri: Named for M.A.E. Mortimer, a fish culturist who conducted a great deal of productive fish culture research in Zambia between 1951 and 1965 (Ref. 13337).
More on author: Trewavas.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; 10°S - 19°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: Middle Zambezi and its tributaries, including Luangwa River (except probably the upper reaches of its tributaries Lunsemfwa and Mulungwishi above the escarpment), Hunyani River and Lake Kariba (Ref. 5166). Introduced to Kipopo and the Lufira River (upper Congo River basin) in Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ref. 1978).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 22.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 48.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5309); max. published weight: 4.1 kg (Ref. 13337); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 2)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 16 - 17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12; Vertebrae: 29 - 30. Diagnosis: jaws greatly enlarged in mature males; scales in 2-3 rows on cheek; caudal peduncle relatively shorter than in O. mossambicus (Ref. 2). In life greenish grey (Ref. 2), green-blue (Ref. 52307) or grey-blue with a darker spot on each scale (Ref. 2, 52307). Females and immature males often with 1-3 dark mid-lateral blotches (Ref. 2, 52307), which may appear only as the fish dies (Ref. 2). Breeding males: predominantly iridescent blue-green to bronze (Ref. 2, 52307), with iridescent spots on dorsal and caudal fins (Ref. 2), a dorsal fin with a red edge that is not as pronounced as in O. mossambicus, and a narrow (as opposed to wide) red band at posterior end of caudal fin (Ref. 12524, 13337).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Forms schools (Ref. 2, 54048). Is mainly diurnal; salt-tolerant (Ref. 2). Feeds mainly on (filamentous) algae (Ref. 2, 12524, 13337, 52307, 54048) and diatoms, as well as higher plants (Ref. 2, 52307), dipterous larvae, cladocerans, copepods (Ref. 2), aquatic and terrestrial insects, shrimps, worms (Ref. 12524, 13337, 54048) and mollusks (Ref. 54048). Mouthbrooder; spawns several times per year (Ref. 12524, 13337, 54048).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Nest a saucer-shaped depression with a raised mound in the middle (Ref. 12524, 13337), made by the male in a breeding arena in shallow water down to about 4m (Ref. 54048). Females are lured to these through male courtship displays; female collects eggs in mouth after spawning and fertilisation, and moves off; mouthbrooding females may shoal together and do not feed at this time; eggs hatch after about ten days but remain in the mouth for a further few days; juveniles make short feeding sorties once the storage yolk is used up, but seldom stray far and dart into her mouth when danger threatens; after about another 10 days young are released in warm shallow water in the margins (nursery areas), where they feed independently in small shoals (Ref. 54048). Young released from mouthbrooding female are about 1cm long (Ref. 2). Female returns to the breeding arena where she spawns again (Ref. 54048).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Trewavas, E., 1983. Tilapiine fishes of the genera Sarotherodon, Oreochromis and Danakilia. British Mus. Nat. Hist., London, UK. 583 p. (Ref. 2)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (A2ae); Date assessed: 01 March 2007

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: experimental; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Length-weight
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Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
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Ciguatera
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Otoliths
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01995 (0.00948 - 0.04201), b=3.01 (2.83 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.2   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 4.3 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=8).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (39 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.