Species: Pelmatolapia mariae, Spotted Tilapia

Pelmatolapia mariae (Boulenger, 1899)

Spotted Tilapia

Body an elongate oblong; large males with a hump over eye; 1 pair of nostrils; top jaw highly protrusible; teeth fine, close set, 3-6 rows on jaws, outer row 2-pointed, flattened, immovable or nearly so; toothed throat apparatus: lower plate broadly triangular, as wide as long, bottom keel shorter than depth of triangular toothed surface, front teeth curved, single-pointed, rear teeth straight, with 2 points, small and narrow, forming a felt-like covering; gill rakers simple, 4-5+12-16; one dorsal fin XV-XVII, 13-15, without a notch between spines and rays; anal fin III, 10-11; lateral line in 2 straight overlapping sections, with 20-21+10-15 scales; scales large.

Pale grey brown; iris red; a black blotch at upper corner of operculum, a series of ~6-9 black blotches along body midline to tail fin base, largest and darkest on center of body, bars from those blotches extending onto dorsal fin; belly scales with a central red spot; dorsal, anal and tail fins greenish, with rows of reddish spots, edges of dorsal and tail fins bluey white, although tips of dorsal spines red; large males base color is dark grey-brown, with reddish cast to front of flank, soft dorsal and tail fins; juveniles with a dark spot on base of front dorsal fin rays; a series of 7-9 prominent dark bars on body and tail base; unpaired fins yellowish.

Reaches 42 cm; 1.36 kg.

Fresh to brackish water.

Depth range: 0-5 m?

West Africa originally; introduced to the US as an ornamental fish.