The Lake Chala tilapia (Oreochromis hunteri) is a species of cichlid fish that is endemic to Lake Chala, a small crater lake on the border of Kenya and Rombo District of Kilimanjaro Region in Tanzania.[1][2] It mostly lives in relatively deep water, at depths between 20–45 m (66–148 ft).[3] It is considered critically endangered by the IUCN, with the two primary threats being deterioration of its habitat due to siltation,[1] and other non-native tilapia species that have been introduced to Lake Chala.[2][3] Before these introductions, the Lake Chala tilapia was the only fish in Lake Chala.[4] It is very closely related to the similar Jipe tilapia (O. jipe), another highly threatened species from the same general region of Kenya and Tanzania.[3][4] The Lake Chala tilapia can reach a standard length of up to 30 cm (12 in).[2]
| Lake Chala tilapia | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cichliformes |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Genus: | Oreochromis |
| Species: | O. hunteri
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| Binomial name | |
| Oreochromis hunteri Günther, 1889
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| Synonyms | |
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The specific name hunteri honours the British zoologist Henry C. V. Hunter (1861-1934), who collected the type, and who provided notes on this species' distribution.[5] O. hunteri is the type species of the genus Oreochromis.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Bayona, J.D.R.; Odhiambo, E.A.; Hanssens, M. (2006). "Oreochromis hunteri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006: e.T60634A12389528. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T60634A12389528.en.
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Oreochromis hunteri". FishBase. September 2019 version.
- ^ a b c d Moser, F.N.; J.C. van Rijssel; B. Ngatunga; S. Mwaiko; O. Seehausen (2019). "The origin and future of an endangered crater lake endemic; phylogeography and ecology of Oreochromis hunteri and its invasive relatives". Hydrobiologia. 832 (1): 283–296. doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3780-z. S2CID 52944759.
- ^ a b Dieleman, J.; M. Muschick; W.D. Nyingi; D. Verschuren (2019). "Species integrity and origin of Oreochromis hunteri (Pisces: Cichlidae), endemic to crater Lake Chala (Kenya–Tanzania)". Hydrobiologia. 832 (1): 269–282. doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3570-7. S2CID 4591524.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (4 December 2018). "Order CICHLIFORMES: Family CICHLIDAE: Subfamily PSEUDOCRENILABRINAE (l-o)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
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