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Coptodon zillii (Gervais, 1848)

Redbelly tilapia
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Coptodon zillii
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Pseudocrenilabrinae
Etymology:

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 6.0 - 9.0; dH range: 5 - 20; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 7 m (Ref. 4967). Tropical; 11°C - 36°C (Ref. 3); 35°N - 9°S, 17°W - 36°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa and Eurasia: South Morocco, Sahara, Niger-Benue system, rivers Senegal, Sassandra, Bandama, Boubo, Mé, Comoé, Bia, Ogun and Oshun, Volta system, Chad-Shari system (Ref. 5163), middle Congo River basin in the Ubangi, Uele (Ref. 55074), Itimbiri, Aruwimi (Ref. 55074, 106290), Lindi-Tshopo (Ref. 106290) and Wagenia Falls (Ref. 106245) in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lakes Albert (Ref. 55074) and Turkana, Nile system and Jordan system (Ref. 5163). Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 7.0, range 20 - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 34290); common length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 34290); max. published weight: 300.00 g (Ref. 3799); max. reported age: 7 years (Ref. 164)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 16; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 14; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. Diagnosis: A large, deep-bodied species with a narrow head and small strong jaws; generally has a bright red belly and prominent vertical barring (Ref. 118638). Upper profile of head not convex; lower pharyngeal bone about as long as broad, and with anterior lamella shorter than toothed area; median pharyngeal teeth not broadened; dorsal fin with 14-16 spines and 10-14 soft rays; 8-11 lower gillrakers; dark longitudinal band appears on flanks when agitated; no bifurcated dark vertical bars on flanks; dorsal and caudal fins not or feebly blotched (Ref. 53405). Body brownish-olivaceous with an iridescent blue sheen; lips bright green (Ref. 34290, 53405). Chest pinkish (Ref. 34290). Dorsal, caudal and anal fins brownish-olivaceous with yellow spots, dorsal and anal fins outlined by narrow orange band; "tilapian" spot large, extending from last spine to 4th soft ray and always bordered by yellow band (Ref. 34290, 53405). Specimens of 2-14 cm standard length with completely yellowish or greyish caudal fin without dots, but tend to develop a greyish caudal fin with dots of increasing size during development; above 14 cm standard length, this species has greyish caudal fins with dots on entire caudal fin (Ref. 57660). The sexes look very similar, although in a mated pair the male is usually larger (Ref. 118638). Difficult to distinguish reliably from Coptodon rendalli, but C. zillii can have a less-steep head profile and more prominent vertical bars; in East Africa, the tailfin of C. rendalli is often divided into a brown/grey upper part and red/yellowish lower part, whereas the tail of C. zillii is more uniform throughout (Ref. 118638).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Highly adaptable and tolerates varying water qualities (Ref. 52307); they are tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and salinities (Ref. 118638), even surviving marine conditions (Ref. 52307). Extended temperature range 6.5 - 42.5 °C, natural temperature range 10.5 - 36°C (Ref. 3). Occasionally form schools; mainly diurnal. Prefers shallow, vegetated areas (Ref. 4967). Fry are common in marginal vegetation and juveniles are found in the seasonal floodplain. Herbivorous (Ref. 52307), adults feed on leaves and stems of underwater plants as well as algae and vegetative detritus (Ref. 118638). A substrate spawner (Ref. 28714, 52307); male and female form pairs to rear the young (Ref. 118638); aggs and larvae are usually guarded in a pit dug in the mud (Ref. 118638). Parental care is very thorough and undertaken by both parties; large specimens may deposit 1000 eggs per spawn, preferably on hard surfaces; hatching occurs about 96 hours post spawning, and juveniles swim freely about 4-6 days later (Ref. 52307). Larvae develop in close association with substrate.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Spawns in lake bottoms with pebbles or sand and abundant vegetation (Ref. 3). Lays adhesive eggs on the substratum which are guarded by both parents (Ref. 6298). Reported to deposit and guard eggs in shallow nest (Ref. 12069). Produces up to 1000 eggs (Ref. 1672).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Dunz, A.R. and U.K. Schliewen, 2013. Molecular phylogeny and revised classification of the haplotilapiine cichlid fishes formerly referred to as "Tilapia". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 68(1):64-80. (Ref. 93285)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 21 April 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; ; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; ; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | OsteoBase: skull, spine | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01622 (0.01376 - 0.01911), b=2.98 (2.94 - 3.02), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.5   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 2.2 (1.5 - 4.7) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 11 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.2-0.5; tm=2-3; tmax=7; Fec = 715 - 1,147).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 147 [76, 253] mg/100g; Iron = 1.18 [0.67, 2.29] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [16.4, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.187 [0.092, 0.407] g/100g; Selenium = 43.7 [23.5, 82.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 18.5 [4.8, 49.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 2.19 [1.56, 3.22] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.