''Sarotherodon'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of oreochromine

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

s that are native to the northern half of Africa (south as far as the Congo River basin), with a single species, ''S. galilaeus'', also ranging into the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. A couple of species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range, and are important in

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

(''S. galilaeus'' and to a lesser degree ''S. melanotheron''). Most other species have small ranges and some are seriously threatened. They mainly inhabit fresh and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water, but a few can live in salt water (at least for a period). Species in this genus, as well as those in several other oreochromine and tilapiine genera, share the common name " tilapia" and historically they were included in the genus '' Tilapia''. Based on

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

analysis, there seem to be several

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s in this genus, and a few species of the much larger genus ''Oreochromis'' (such as ''Oreochromis urolepis'' and the blue tilapia ''O. aureus'') seem closer to ''Sarotherodon'' according to the mtDNA data (see discussion at Wami tilapia). Research is hampered by the fact that hybridization runs rampant in these fishes, which confounds mtDNA data, and that the fast speed of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

makes choice of appropriate

nuclear DNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. ...

sequences difficult.

Species

There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sarotherodon caroli'' (

Holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, 1930) (Fissi) * '' Sarotherodon caudomarginatus'' ( Boulenger, 1916) * '' Sarotherodon galilaeus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758) ** '' Sarotherodon galilaeus borkuanus'' ( Pellegrin, 1919) ** '' Sarotherodon galilaeus boulengeri'' ( Pellegrin, 1903) ** '' Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus'' (

, 1758) (Mango tilapia) ** '' Sarotherodon galilaeus multifasciatus'' ( Günther, 1903) ** '' Sarotherodon galilaeus sanagaensis'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1966) * '' Sarotherodon knauerae'' D. Neumann, Stiassny & Schliewen, 2011 * '' Sarotherodon lamprechti'' D. Neumann, Stiassny & Schliewen, 2011 * '' Sarotherodon linnellii'' ( Lönnberg, 1903) (Blackfin tilapia) * '' Sarotherodon lohbergeri'' (

, 1930) (Keppi) * '' Sarotherodon melanotheron'' Rüppell, 1852 ** '' Sarotherodon melanotheron heudelotii'' ( A. H. A. Duméril, 1861) ** '' Sarotherodon melanotheron leonensis'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971) ** '' Sarotherodon melanotheron melanotheron'' Rüppell, 1852 (Blackchin tilapia) * '' Sarotherodon mvogoi'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1965) * '' Sarotherodon nigripinnis'' (Guichenot, 1861) ** '' Sarotherodon nigripinnis dolloi'' ( Boulenger, 1899) ** '' Sarotherodon nigripinnis nigripinnis'' ( Guichenot, 1861) * '' Sarotherodon occidentalis'' ( Daget, 1962) * '' Sarotherodon steinbachi'' ( Trewavas, 1962) (Kululu) * '' Sarotherodon tournieri'' (Daget, 1965) ** '' Sarotherodon tournieri liberiensis'' ( Thys van den Audenaerde, 1971) ** '' Sarotherodon tournieri tournieri'' ( Daget, 1965)

References

Oreochromini Cichlid genera Taxa named by Eduard Rüppell {{Tilapiini-stub