Heterotilapia

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Cichlidae - Heterotilapia buttikoferi.JPG

| image_caption = T. buttikoferi

| taxon = Heterotilapia

| display_parents = 3

| parent_authority = Dunz & Schliewen, 2013

| authority = Regan, 1920

| type_species = Chromis buttikoferi

| type_species_authority = Hubrecht, 1881

}}

Heterotilapia is a genus of cichlid fish that are native to rivers from Guinea-Bissau to Liberia in tropical West Africa. Formerly considered a subgenus of Tilapia, in 2013, it was elevated to genus rank.{{cite journal | author1=Dunz, A.R. | author2=U.K. Schliewen | year=2013 | title=Molecular phylogeny and revised classification of the haplotilapiine cichlid fishes formerly referred to as "Tilapia" | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=68 | issue=1 | pages=64-80 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2013.03.015 }} They are medium-large cichlids, up to about {{cvt|20-30|cm|in|0}} in standard length depending on the species, and with a distinctive dark-and-light banded pattern. They are substrate spawners and brooders (not mouthbrooders as some other tilapias). H. buttikoferi is a common species that also has been introduced outside its native range, but H. cessiana is highly localized and critically endangered.{{FishBase genus | genus = Heterotilapia | month = November | year = 2019}}