Mango tilapia

Mango tilapia
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Cichlidae
Genus:	Sarotherodon
Species:	S. galilaeus
Binomial name
Sarotherodon galilaeus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Sparus galilaeus Linnaeus, 1758 Chromis galilaeus (Linnaeus, 1758) Sarotherodon galilaeum (Linnaeus, 1758) Tilapia galilaea (Linnaeus, 1758) Tilapia galilaea galilaea (Linnaeus, 1758) Tilapia pleuromelas A. H. A. Duméril, 1861 Chromis pleuromelas (A. H. A. Duméril, 1861) Tilapia galilaea pleuromelas A. H. A. Duméril, 1861 Tilapia lateralis A. H. A. Duméril, 1861 Chromis lateralis (A. H. A. Duméril, 1861) Tilapia macrocentra A. H. A. Duméril, 1861 Chromis tiberiadis Lortet, 1883 Chromis microstomus Lortet, 1883 Tilapia microstoma (Lortet, 1883) Chromis multifasciatus Günther, 1903 Sarotherodon multifasciatus (Günther, 1903) Tilapia galilaea multifasciata (Günther, 1903) Tilapia multifasciatus (Günther, 1903) Tilapia boulengeri Pellegrin, 1903 Tilapia galilaea boulengeri Pellegrin, 1903 Tilapia borkuana Pellegrin, 1919 Tilapia galilaea borkuana Pellegrin, 1919 Tilapia sanagaensis Thys van den Audenaerde, 1966 Sarotherodon sanagaensis (Thys van den Audenaerde, 1966)

The mango tilapia (Sarotherodon galilaeus) is a species of fish from the cichlid family. Other common names include Galilaea tilapia, Galilean Comb, Galilee St. Peter’s fish, and St. Peter's fish. (To differentiate from other Israeli species of "St. Peter's fish" see below). This is a relatively large cichlid at up to 41 centimetres (16 in) in length and about 1.6 kilograms (3.5 lb) in weight.

This widespread species is found in lakes, rivers and other fresh or brackish habitats in northern and central Africa (including Saharan oases), ranging as far south as the Guinea region, the Congo River Basin and Ethiopia. Outside Africa it is found in Syria, Jordan and Israel. It is one of the very few cichlids that is found in Africa north of the Sahara and in Asia. The typical temperature range is 22–28 °C (72–82 °F), but it has been recorded from waters as cold as 9 °C (48 °F). In addition to the nominate subspecies, four subspecies were recognized in the past, but today the species is considered monotypic.

It is a bi-parental mouthbrooder. The mating strategies can vary. Both uni-parent and bi-parent mouthbrooding is used, and monogamous or polygamous behaviour.

Mating is usually monogamous for the mango tilapia. The male and female will create a depression in the substrate, in which the female will lay her eggs. Afterwards, the male will glide over the depression and fertilize the eggs. Mouth brooding is a tactic which, either male or female or both male and female, protects and carries the eggs in their mouth for a time period of about two weeks. However, pair bonding ends after mouth brooding begins.

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