Species: Oreochromis urolepis, Wami Tilapia

Oreochromis urolepis (Norman, 1922)

Wami Tilapia

Body an elongate oblong; 1 pair of nostrils; snout rounded, with straight upper profile, as long as part of head behind eye; top jaw highly protrusible; teeth fine, close set, 5 series, ~70 two-pointed teeth in outer series, outer row readily movable; jaws of mature males enlarged, forehead profile concave; lower gill rakers 22 (19-27); pectoral as long as head, reaching nearly to level of anus; pelvics almost reaching anus; one dorsal fin XVII (XV-XVIII), 12 (12-13), without a notch between spines and rays; anal fin III, 10; scales large, usually 4 from origin of dorsal fin to lateral line, 2-3 rows on cheek; tail fin is densely scaled; lateral line in 2 straight overlapping sections, 30-32 lateral line scales; genital papilla large, elaborate.

Female and non breeding male; silvery; 2-4 dark blotches along midline of flank, these joined by narrow bars to a second row of blotches on upper back; a dark blotch at top rear corner of operculum; tail fin with narrow dark bars at base and upper half of fin. Juveniles with a large dark, whitish edged spot on base of front dorsal fin rays. Breeding male: dark olive to black; lips may be pale or black; underside of head not white; outer edge of dorsal fin, and edge or top half of tail fin red to orange.

Reaches 29 cm.

Lives in fresh and brackish water.

Depth range: 0-5 m.

Originally from SE Africa; introduced to our region for aquaculture purposes.