page_title: Oreochromis
section_title: Species
hierarchical_section_title: Oreochromis / Taxonomy / Species
caption_attribution_description: Oreochromis squamipinnis
context_page_description: Oreochromis is a large genus of oreochromine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range and are important in aquaculture. Many others have very small ranges; some are seriously threatened, and O. ismailiaensis and O. lidole possibly are extinct. Although Oreochromis primarily are freshwater fish of rivers, lakes and similar habitats, several species can also thrive in brackish waters and some even survive in hypersaline conditions with a salinity that far surpasses that of seawater. In addition to overfishing and habitat loss, some of the more localized species are threatened by the introduction of other, more widespread Oreochromis species into their ranges. This is because they—in addition to competing for the local resources—often are able to hybridize.
  Oreochromis are fairly robust fish, and medium–small to very large ciclids that can reach up to 9.4–61 cm in total length depending on the exact species.
context_section_description: The 33 recognized species in this genus are:
  Oreochromis amphimelas (Hilgendorf, 1905)
  Oreochromis andersonii (Castelnau, 1861) (three-spotted tilapia)
  Oreochromis angolensis (Trewavas, 1973)
  Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864) (blue tilapia)
  Oreochromis chungruruensis (C. G. E. Ahl, 1924)
  Oreochromis esculentus (M. Graham, 1928) (Singida tilapia)
  Oreochromis hunteri Günther, 1889 (Lake Chala tilapia)
  Oreochromis ismailiaensis Mekkawy, 1995
  Oreochromis jipe (R. H. Lowe, 1955) (Jipe tilapia)
  Oreochromis karomo (Poll, 1948) (karomo)
  Oreochromis karongae (Trewavas, 1941)
  Oreochromis korogwe (R. H. Lowe, 1955) (Korogwe tilapia)
  Oreochromis lepidurus (Boulenger, 1899)
  Oreochromis leucostictus (Trewavas, 1933)
  Oreochromis lidole (Trewavas, 1941)
  Oreochromis macrochir (Boulenger, 1912) (longfin tilapia)
  Oreochromis malagarasi Trewavas, 1983 (Malagarasi tilapia)
  Oreochromis mortimeri (Trewavas, 1966) (Kariba tilapia)
  Oreochromis mossambicus (W. K. H. Peters, 1852) (Mozambique tilapia)
  Oreochromis mweruensis Trewavas, 1983
  Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Nile tilapia)
  Oreochromis placidus (Trewavas, 1941)
  Oreochromis placidus placidus (Trewavas, 1941) (black tilapia)
  Oreochromis placidus ruvumae (Trewavas, 1966)
  Oreochromis rukwaensis (Hilgendorf & Pappenheim, 1903) (Lake Rukwa tilapia)
  Oreochromis saka (R. H. Lowe, 1953)
  Oreochromis salinicola (Poll, 1948)
  Oreochromis schwebischi (Sauvage, 1884)
  Oreochromis shiranus Boulenger, 1897
  Oreochromis shiranus chilwae (Trewavas, 1966) (Chilwa tilapia)
  Oreochromis shiranus shiranus Boulenger, 1897
  Oreochromis spilurus (Günther, 1894)
  Oreochromis spilurus niger (Günther, 1894) (Athi River tilapia)
  Oreochromis spilurus percivali (Boulenger, 1912) (Buffalo Springs tilapia)
  Oreochromis spilurus spilurus (Günther, 1894) (Sabaki tilapia)
  Oreochromis squamipinnis (Günther, 1864)
  Oreochromis tanganicae (Günther, 1894)
  Oreochromis upembae (Thys van den Audenaerde, 1964)
  Oreochromis urolepis (Norman, 1922)
  Oreochromis urolepis hornorum (Trewavas, 1966) (Wami tilapia)
  Oreochromis urolepis urolepis (Norman, 1922) (Rufigi tilapia)
  Oreochromis variabilis (Boulenger, 1906) (Victoria tilapia)
caption: Oreochromis squamipinnis, a threatened species of the Lake Malawi basin
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