Zille's redbreast tilapia, St.
The redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii, syn. Tilapia zillii), also known as the Zille's redbreast tilapia or St. Peter's fish (a name also used for other tilapia in Israel), is a species of fish in the cichlid family. This fish is found widely in fresh and brackish waters in the northern half of Africa and the Middle East. Elsewhere in Africa, Asia, Australia and North America, it has been introduced as a food fish or as a control of aquatic vegetation. Where introduced, it sometimes becomes invasive, threatening the local ecology and species. The redbelly tilapia is an important food fish and sometimes aquacultured.
The species was named by Paul Gervais in honor of M. (probably Monsieur) Zill, a “distinguished naturalist” who collected the type specimen and sent it to Gervais.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe redbelly tilapia can reach up to 300 g (11 oz) in weight and 40 cm (16 in) in length, but usually is no more than 30 cm (12 in). In the Middle East, adults typically are 12–22 cm (5–9 in) long. Males tend to grow larger than females, but otherwise the sexes are similar.
Its base color is brownish-olivaceous and the belly is yellowish or whitish. It often (for example, when agitated) has a faint/poorly defined dark pattern consisting of two horizontal lines on the body crossed by about half a dozen vertical bars. Breeding adults are more greenish overall, have iridescent blue-green spots on the head and bright pinkish-red underparts. This species very closely resembles the redbreast tilapia (C. rendalli) and the two are difficult to distinguish; many reports of introduced populations may involve either species. The two have separate natural distribution (redbelly tilapia in the northern half of Africa, redbreast tilapia in the southern half), but through introductions their ranges now overlap. Whether they can hybridize is unknown. It has hybridized with the spotted tilapia (Pelmatolapia mariae), a quite distant relative.
The redbelly tilapia has a preference for shallow waters with vegetation, but it also occurs in more open habitats like sandy shores and as deep as 30 m (100 ft).
Although primarily a species of fresh and brackish water habitats, it tolerates high salinities, up to 4% (sea water is c. 3.5%), but the upper breeding limit is at 2.9%. The redbelly tilapia also can live in a wide range of water temperatures, but in the northern part of its range it sometimes falls below its requirements (minimum 6.5–13 °C, depending on a range of factors), resulting in large numbers dying. In Alabama, it was necessary to introduce them each year to maintain a population, as they die during the winter. The upper limit typically is 36 °C (97 °F), but it can survive to 42.5 °C (108.5 °F).
As typical of Coptodon, the redbelly tilapia is a substrate spawner and brooder. The "nest" typically is a small depression in the bottom that is dug by both parents, but sometimes the eggs are placed on the top of a stone or the "nest" is an up to 85-centimetre-deep (2.8 ft) tunnel that is dug into muddy substrate. Several pairs may breed quite closely together forming a colony. Each female lays 1,000–6,000 eggs per spawning and she may spawn multiple times in a season. Both parents guard the eggs and fry. In tropical locations it breeds year-round, although peaking in the rainy season. In colder subtropical regions like Israel it only breeds in the summer, at water temperatures of at least 20 °C (68 °F). All other cichlids native to Western Asia are mouthbrooders.
The redbelly tilapia mostly feeds on algae and higher plants (both aquatic plants and land plants that become accessible to the fish), but it also takes smaller quantities of invertebrates and fish eggs. Young redbelly tilapias feed extensively on tiny crustaceans.
