Oreochromis macrochir

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Oreochromis macrochir.jpg

| status = VU

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Marshall, B.E. |author2=Tweddle, D. |date=2007 |title=Oreochromis macrochir |volume=2007 |page=e.T63336A12659168 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63336A12659168.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| taxon = Oreochromis macrochir

| authority = (Boulenger, 1912)

| synonyms =

• Tilapia macrochir Boulenger, 1912
• Loruwiala macrochir (Boulenger, 1912)
• Oreochromis macrochir macrochir (Boulenger, 1912)
• Sarotherodon macrochir (Boulenger, 1912)
• Tilapia intermedia Gilchrist & W. W. Thompson, 1917
• Tilapia sheshekensis Gilchrist & W. W. Thompson, 1917
• Tilapia alleni Fowler, 1931

}}

Oreochromis macrochir (longfin tilapia, greenhead tilapia, or greenhead bream) is a species of cichlid native to the Zambezi Basin, Lake Mweru, and Lake Bangweulu. It has been used extensively for stocking ponds and dams in other parts of southern Africa, but is little-used elsewhere.{{cite book

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MY7s5exj5ewC&pg=PA190

|page=190

|chapter=Oreochromis macrochir

|title=International introductions of inland aquatic species

|editor=R. L. Welcomme

|publisher=Food & Agriculture Org. |year=1988

|isbn=978-92-5-102664-9}} In Lake Mweru, it is economically the most important fish.{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLjafeXa3gMC&pg=PA538

|pages=538–541

|title=A directory of African wetlands

|author=R. H. Hughes, J. S. Hughes

|publisher=IUCN |year=1992

|isbn=978-2-88032-949-5}} The fish was introduced into Lake Alaotra in Madagascar in 1954, and proliferated quickly. By 1957, it provided 46% of the catch, perhaps because it was moving into an empty ecological niche as a phytophagous species.{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_ABrmnsKY4C&pg=PA322

|page=322

|title=Biodiversity dynamics and conservation: the freshwater fish of tropical Africa

|author=C. Lévêque

|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997

|isbn=978-0-521-57033-6}}

This species reaches a maximum length of {{convert|43|cm|in|abbr=on}}. It lives in fresh water at a depth of {{convert|5 to 14|m|ft|abbr=on}} in tropical climates with average temperatures between {{convert|18 and 35|C|F}}.{{FishBase |genus= Oreochromis|species= macrochir| month = April | year = 2013}}