Ecology Summary - Oreochromis mossambicus

Language:

Main Ref.	Philippart, J.-C. and J.-C. Ruwet, 1982
Remarks	Inhabits lower Zambezi, Limpopo and eastern rivers southwards. Prefers sheltered banks provided with vegetation. The adult tilapia mainly occupy deeper terraces which surround the lake at high-water levels. Feeds on detritus, plankton, and algae (Ref. 11889). Small fish fed initially on zoobenthos and zooplankton, but fish with a mass of over 4 g fed increasingly on Microcystis aeruginosa and detritus (Ref. 43783). Increased in rainfall improved the quality of diet, as level of protein, energy and organic matter in the diet increased in quantity (Ref. 52847). Utilized in rice fish culture (Ref. 26236).

Main Ref.

Philippart, J.-C. and J.-C. Ruwet, 1982

Remarks

Inhabits lower Zambezi, Limpopo and eastern rivers southwards. Prefers sheltered banks provided with vegetation. The adult tilapia mainly occupy deeper terraces which surround the lake at high-water levels. Feeds on detritus, plankton, and algae (Ref. 11889). Small fish fed initially on zoobenthos and zooplankton, but fish with a mass of over 4 g fed increasingly on Microcystis aeruginosa and detritus (Ref. 43783). Increased in rainfall improved the quality of diet, as level of protein, energy and organic matter in the diet increased in quantity (Ref. 52847). Utilized in rice fish culture (Ref. 26236).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Oreochromis mossambicus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats
Special habitats Ref.	Halwart, M. and M.V. Gupta, 2004

Associations

Ref.
Associations
Associated with
Association remarks
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	mainly plants/detritus (troph. 2-2.19)
Feeding type Ref.	Trewavas, E., 1982
Feeding habit	browsing on substrate
Feeding habit Ref.	Trewavas, E., 1982

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition	2.17	0.03	2.00	0.00	Troph of juv./adults from 14 studies.
From individual food items	2.77	0.36			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Blühdorn, D.R., A.H. Arthington and P.B. Mather, 1989

Back to Search

cfm script by eagbayani, , php script by rolavides, 2/5/2008 , last modified by mbactong, 10/24/19