Oreochromis mossambicus Peters, 1852

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 466-467

Oreochromis mossambicus Peters, 1852 [I]— Mozambique tilapia; Amnun mozambiq

Taxonomy. Original description: Chromis (Tilapia) mossambicus Peters, 1852: 681 [Zambezi River, Mozambique (East Africa); syntypes: BMNH (ex Peters) 1861.5.2.58-59 (2), FMNH 54267 (ex CM 28989 (2) Mosambique; ZMB 2805-06 (2, 1), 16035 (3), 31564 (15)].—Israeli synonyms: Tilapia mossambica ( Peters, 1852) ; Sarotherodon mossambicus ( Peters, 1852) ; Oreochromis mossambica Peters, 1852 ; Oreochromis mosambica Peters, 1852 ; Chromis natalensis Weber, 1897 ; Chromis vorax Pfeffer 1893 ; Chromis dumerilii Steindachner, 1864 ; Labrodascyllus cimballii Di Caporiacco, 1948 ; Tilapia arnoldi Gilchrist & Thompson, 1917 .—Revisions: None.—Illustration: Lee et al. (1980: 774) as Tilapia mossambica .

Status in Israel. First record from Israel by Ben Tuvia (1981) as Sarotherodon mossambicus ; confirmed by Golani & Lerner (2007).—Israel material: HUJ.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: Freshwater stream flowing to the northern Gulf of Aqaba.— Distribution in River Basin: 2-Dead Sea Basin.—General distribution: Southeastern Africa; introduced widely elsewhere.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species occurs in all but fast-flowing waters and thrives in standing waters. Further south in its range, most common in blind estuaries and coastal lakes where it tolerates brackish and marine environments. It feeds on algae, especially diatoms, and detritus, large individuals also take insects and other invertebrates. Freshwater, brackish.

Economic importance. No commercial in Israel, elsewhere commercially important.

Reasons of introduction. Hybridiziation for Aquaculture/research.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).