Juvenile fish
"Limnotilapia dardennii" lives close to the shore, preferring sandy areas to rocky zones. Juvenile fish live in shallower waters over sand and mud substrates while the adults prefer deeper waters and rocky substrates. It is an omnivore with much of its diet consisting of plant material such as algae, phytoplankton and vascular plants. It is also known to feed on worms and the eggs of other fishes. It is regarded as closest to the ancestral form of species within its grouping which are browsers and grazers of algae as it shows the least specialisation of that group.