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Oreochromis niloticus

File:Tilápia_ou_Sarotherodon_niloticus_2.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Oreochromis niloticus

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Also known as Nile tilapia, Genetically improved farmed tilapia, GIFT

species of fish

OverviewAI-generated

Oreochromis niloticus, commonly known as the Nile tilapia, is a species of fish within the family Cichlidae. It belongs to the genus Oreochromis and is classified in the order Perciformes, class Teleostei, and phylum Chordata. The species was described by Linnaeus in 1758 and is accepted as a valid taxon. It inhabits freshwater and brackish environments.

The IUCN Red List assesses the conservation status of Oreochromis niloticus as Least Concern, a designation recorded in 2023. The species is endemic to Kenya and has been introduced as an invasive species to Madagascar. Its range includes Brazil, specifically the area of Parauapebas. Records from iDigBio indicate the presence of the species in Mexico, with 950 records held by institutions such as ENCB-IPN and MZ-UNICACH.

Synthesized by Vinony from 42 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, IUCN Red List, iDigBio, WoRMS, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Least Concern

Nile tilapia

SPECIES

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassTeleostei
  4. OrderPerciformes
  5. FamilyCichlidae
Habitatbrackish, freshwater
Observations7,620
Observations recorded101,154

via GBIF · IUCN

Museum specimens

Specimen records
950
With media
32
Family
Cichlidae
Collections
ENCB-IPN, MZ-UNICACH, ECOSUR, CINVESTAV-IPN, CIIDIR-IPN, IBUNAM
Recorded in
Mexico

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Oreochromis
Image
ChromisNiloticus.jpg
Show 11 more facts
taxon rank
species
taxon name
Oreochromis niloticus
Commons category
Oreochromis niloticus
Commons gallery
Oreochromis niloticus
taxon common name
尼羅非鯽
IUCN conservation status
Least Concern
taxon range
Parauapebas
invasive to
Madagascar
endemic to
Kenya
short name
O. niloticus
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~16 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is a species of tilapia, a cichlid occurring naturally in parts of Africa (such as its namesake Nile River) and the Levant, though numerous introduced populations exist outside its natural range. This current wide range is caused by its high commercial value as a food fish, where it is marketed as mango fish (not to be confused with the mango tilapia, or Sarotherodon galilaeus), nilotica, or boulti, along with many other names, both local and foreign. Due to its value, the Nile tilapia is widely aquacultured across the world due to its hardiness and a mode of reproduction conducive to mass rearing, namely mouthbrooding, and various attempts have been made to increase production yields, including hybridization with other tilapias.

Description

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Oreochromis niloticus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (9)