Sarotherodon galilaeus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Saad, Adib, Çiçek, Erdoğan, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil & Eagderi, Soheil, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Syria: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5350 (1), pp. 1-62 : 40

Sarotherodon galilaeus ( Linnaeus, 1758) [N]—Mango tilapia; Mesht abiad

Taxonomy. Original description: Sparus galilaeus Linnaeus, 1758: 282 [Lake Tiberias [Galilée], Israel; no types known].—Syrian synonyms: Sparus galilaeus Linnaeus, 1758 ; Tilapia galilaea and attributed to Artedi.— Revisions: None.—Illustration: Krupp & Schneider (1989: 399, fig. 51).

Status in Syria. First record from Syria by El Bolock & Koura (1961); confirmed by Beckman (1962: 56) as Tilapia galilaea, Saad et al. (2006, 2009 ).—Syrian materials: MSL.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Syria: Orontes, Al Kabir Al Shamali, and Al Yarmouk rivers, Beteha area.—Distribution in River Basin: 3-Desert, 4-Orontes, 5-Barada & Awaj, 6-Coastal, 7-Al-Yarmouk.— General distribution: Middle East; introduced elsewhere.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 437-Orontes, 438- Jordan River, 440-Arabian Interior.—Habitat: This demersal species occurs in shallow inshore waters of lakes and prefers open water, but juveniles and breeding adults can be found offshore. In the Sudd lakes, it is often associated with beds of submerged vegetation. It occasionally forms schools and can be territorial. It also occurs in rivers. Freshwater, brackish.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Reasons of introduction. Aquaculture.

Conservation. Conservation status in Syria: Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023).—Threats: Unknown.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered as a keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—Low priority for conservation action.

Remarks. In Syria, S. galilaeus is both found naturally and translocated to various regions for aquaculture purposes.