The Tilapias of Lake Malawi

Oreochromis of squamipinnis group, photo copyright ©
1997 by M. K. Oliver

Oreochromis of the squamipinnis group,
photo copyright © 1997 by M. K. Oliver

All the tilapias (genera Oreochromis and Tilapia) that are known, or have been reported, to occur in Lake Malawi are listed below, along with notation of their endemicity.

Note on the subgenera of Oreochromis: Except for Oreochromis shiranus, all L. Malawi Oreochromis species have been placed in the subgenus Nyasalapia Thys van den Audenaerde (1968), which also includes species not found in L. Malawi. Trewavas (1983: 28) identified the type species of this subgenus as Chromis squamipinnis Günther, 1864 [=Oreochromis squamipinnis], by original designation of Thys. However, according to Eschmeyer's Catalog of the Genera of Recent Fishes, the name Nyasalapia is not available because it was published with no included species and no description. I have not yet checked Thys's publication to see whether Trewavas or Eschmeyer is correct. Therefore, provisionally, I have used this subgeneric name below but have enclosed it in quotation marks.

Oreochromis Günther, 1889

Oreochromis ("Nyasalapia") karongae (Trewavas, 1941) — Endemic species. O. saka (Lowe, 1953) is now regarded as a junior subjective synonym of O. karongae (Turner & Robinson, 1991)
Oreochromis ("Nyasalapia") lidole (Trewavas, 1941) — Species endemic to L. Malawi and to the crater lakes L. Kingiri and L. Chungruru in the Rungwe Mountains of Tanzania some 8-50 km north of L. Malawi
Oreochromis ("Nyasalapia") squamipinnis (Günther, 1864) — Endemic species

Oreochromis (Oreochromis) shiranus shiranus Boulenger, 1897 — Endemic subspecies; another subspecies is found in nearby lakes Chilwa and Chiuta

Tilapia Smith, 1840

Tilapia (Coptodon) rendalli (Boulenger, 1897) — Nonendemic, widespread species
Tilapia (Tilapia) sparrmanii Smith, 1840 — Type species of genus and subgenus — Nonendemic, widespread species

The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa: MalawiCichlids.com