Mozambique tilapia

The Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) is an oreochromine cichlid fish native to southeastern Africa. Dull colored, the Mozambique tilapia often lives up to a decade in its native habitats. It is a popular fish for aquaculture. Due to human introductions, it is now found in many tropical and subtropical habitats around the globe, where it can become an invasive species because of its robust nature. These same features make it a good species for aquaculture because it readily adapts to new situations. It is known as black tilapia in Colombia and as blue kurper in South Africa. The native Mozambique tilapia is laterally compressed, and has a deep body with long dorsal fins, the front part of which have spines. Native coloration is a dull greenish or yellowish, and weak banding may be seen. Adults reach up to in standard length and up to . Size and coloration may vary in captive and naturalized populations due to environmental and breeding pressures. It lives up to 11 years. The Mozambique tilapia is native to inland and coastal waters in southeastern Africa, from the Zambezi basin in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to Bushman River in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. It is threatened in its home range by the introduced Nile tilapia. In addition to competing for the same resources, the two readily hybridize. This has already been documented from the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, and it is expected that pure Mozambique tilapia eventually will disappear from both. Otherwise it is a remarkably robust and fecund fish, readily adapting to available food sources and breeding under suboptimal conditions. Among others, it occurs in rivers, streams, canals, ponds, lakes, swamps and estuaries, although it typically avoids fast-flowing waters, waters at high altitudes and the open sea. It inhabits waters that range from . The Mozambique tilapia or hybrids involving this species and other tilapia are invasive in many parts of the world outside their native range, having escaped from aquaculture or been deliberately introduced to control mosquitoes.