Species in this genus, as well as those in several other
oreochromine and
tilapiine genera, share the common name "
tilapia" and historically most were included in the genus
Tilapia. A comprehensive
genetic study that included almost all the species, as well as the closely related
Alcolapia, found that
Oreochromis as currently defined is
paraphyletic. For example, two
Oreochromis species (
O. amphimelas and
O. esculentus) appear closer to
Alcolapia than the remaining
Oreochromis, and five other
Oreochromis species (
O. angolensis,
O. lepidurus,
O. niloticus,
O. schwebischi and
O. upembae) appear to be as distant from the "core"
Oreochromis as they are from
Alcolapia.
Species The 37 recognized species in this genus are: •
Oreochromis alcalica (
Hilgendorf, 1905) (common Natron tilapia) •
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 grahami (
Boulenger, 1912) (Magadi 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 latilabris (
Seegers &
Tichy, 1999) (wide-lipped Natron tilapia) •
Oreochromis lepidurus (
Boulenger, 1899) •
Oreochromis leucostictus (Trewavas, 1933) •
Oreochromis lidole (Trewavas, 1941) • †
Orechromis lorenzoi Carnevale, Sorbini & Landini, 2003 (fossil;
Miocene of Italy) •
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 ndalalani (
Seegers &
Tichy, 1999) (narrow-mouthed Natron tilapia) •
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) ==Gallery==