Redbreast tilapia


The redbreast tilapia, Coptodon rendalli, is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found widely in the southern half of Africa. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is known as the redbreast kurper in South Africa.

Distribution

The species is found in the drainage basin of the upper Congo River, in the drainage basin of the Kasai River, in Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, Zambezi river and in the costal regions of the Zambezi outlet to KwaZulu-Natal, as well as in the Limpopo River, the Okavango River, and the Cunene River. They've been established as edible fish in several countries.

Description

Coptodon rendalli grow to a maximum length of 45 centimeters, reach a maximum weight of 2.5 kilograms, and possess a high-backed, sideways oblate body. Their body height is 42.2 to 49.4% of their standard length, their head length is 31.1% to 37.5% of their standard length. The top of their head is convex, it sometimes will be concave in large specimen due to the continued growth of their mouth region. Their mouth is studded with short, wide, and thick, two-pointed teeth. Their lower Pharyngeal jaw is as wide as it is long. It's toothed back area is longer than its front area. Seven to 10 gill raker streams are located on the lower branch of their first gill arch.
Head and rump are olive-green on their top and paler on their sides. Like all members of the genus Coptodon their breast and belly are often tinted red. Their flanks display a few lateral ligaments. Their olive-green dorsal fin possess a red rim and white to grey spots on their soft streamed section.
Coptodon rendalli mainly live in river banks, in oxbow lakes, and swamps. They prefer densely vegetated areas and still waters with small amounts of current. The species has a high temperature tolerance and also withstands brackish water with a salt content of up to 1.9%. Their young fish live of plankton, grown members of the species are, like all members of the genus Coptodon, primarily herbivores and eat algae as well as taller plants, as well as insects and smaller crustaceans.

Classification

The species was described in 1897 by the Belgian-British ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger as Chromis rendalli and later classified as a member of the genus Tilapia, sub-genus Coptodon. The sub-genus Coptodon was elevated to a genus in early 2013. The specific name honours the British zoologist Percy Rendall, the collector of the type from the upper Shire River in British Central Africa.

Literature