''Oreochromis jipe'', the Jipe tilapia, is a critically endangered species of

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

fish native to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, where it is restricted to

Lake Jipe Lake Jipe is an inter-territorial lake straddling the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. On the Kenyan side, it is located south of the village of Nghonji while on the Tanzanian side, it is situated within Mwanga District, in Kilimanjaro Region. The ...

and the

Pangani River The Pangani River (pin-gi'nee) (also called Luffu and Jipe Ruvu, especially in older sources, and probably once called Rhaptus) is a major river of northeastern Tanzania. It has two main sources: the Jipe Ruvu River, Ruvu, which rises as River L ...

. The population in the Pangani River (including Ruva River) shows some morphological differences compared to the population in Lake Jipe, and it is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the Pangani tilapia (''O. pangani''). Whether regarded as one or two species, the Jipe–Pangani tilapia forms a

species flock In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

with the threatened

Lake Chala tilapia 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. It mostly lives in relatively deep wate ...

from the same general region of Kenya and Tanzania. This Pangani tilapia can reach a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

of up to . This species is important to local

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

References

jipe Freshwater fish of Kenya Freshwater fish of Tanzania Critically endangered fish Critically endangered fauna of Africa Taxa named by Rosemary Lowe-McConnell Fish described in 1955 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tilapiini-stub