Also reported as Tilapia nilotica (antiquated name).

Eastern Africa assessment: The species is widespread throughout the eastern Africa region. Potentially local subspecies may be subject to overfishing or the risk of hybridisation with other oreochromis species but at the regional scale it has no major widespread threats It is therefore assessed as Least Concern in the region..

The species is native to Lakes Tanganika, Kivu and Edward and associated waters, including the Rusizi and Malagarasi systems. Also native to Lakes Baringo, Turkana and the Suguka River. This species has also been introduced to nearly all the African tropical waters systems (even beyond) for aquaculture including Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, Nagunmbo Nakivali, Kacheran and Kijanebarola.

Widespread and abundant.

Intolerant of high salinities and with an upper lethal temperature limit of 39 to 40°C. Rarely found in deeper parts of rivers usually favouring well-vegetated canals (de Moor and Bruton 1988). It is capable of using a wide range of food materials, but from a total length of about 5 cm it is almost entirely herbivorous. Where phytoplankton are abundant they form the bulk of its diet (Trewavas 1993). Although macrophytes are not its typical food they do form a significant part of its diet in certain waters. The young fry are omnivorous feeding on copepods, aquatic and terrestrial insect larvae, aufwuchs and detritus (de Moor and Bruton 1988). It is a maternal mouthbrooder and the males build nests in firm sand at depths between 0.6 and 2.0 m. Schools of ripe females gather at the surface above the nesting territories and from time to time a female descends to spawn. The female leaves the territory of the male with the brood (de Moor and Bruton 1988; Trewavas 1983). This species represents the most important element in fisheries catches in many lakes in tropical Africa and is a favoured species for aquaculture.

The main threats to the species are overfishing, as native stocks may be locally overfished, and hybridisation.

This species is harvested for human consumption.

No information available.