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Kariba Tilapia
Oreochromis mortimeri
Oreochromis mortimeri, the Kariba tilapia or kurper bream, is a species of cichlid, formerly classified as a Tilapiine cichlid but now placed in the genus Oreochromis, the type genus of the tribe Oreochromini of the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. It is found in the rivers of south central Africa especially the middle Zambezi where it is endangered by the spread of invasive congener Oreochromis niloticus.
From the article Oreochromis mortimeri on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Oreochromis mortimeri is greenish grey, green-blue or grey-blue marked with darker spots on each of its scales. The females and immature males often have 1–3 dark blotches in the middle of their flanks although these may only be visible as the fish dies. The breeding males are mainly iridescent, shading from blue-green to bronze and they have iridescent spots on their dorsal and caudal fins. The dorsal fin has a red margin that is not as obvious as it is in O. mossambicus, with a thin red band at posterior end of caudal fin, whereas that of O. mossambicus is noticeably wider. The jaws of mature males are obviously enlarged.
Range & habitat
Oreochromis mortimeri is endemic to the middle Zambezi valley form the Cahora Bassa gorge to the Victoria Falls. Its distribution includes the Luangwa River and its tributaries. It occurs in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
In human culture
The specific name of this fish honours M. A. E. Mortimer who was a Research and Administrative Officer of the Zambian Department of Game and Fisheries and who studied the Tilapiine fishes of Zambia as well as arranging for Ethelwynn Trewavas to take a trip to the Luangwa Valley to study this fish in its natural habitat.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Oreochromis mortimeri in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 107888.