Tilapia buttikoferi, sometimes known
as the hornet or zebra tilapia, is a
large West African open-substrate-
spawning cichlid.
Iremember visiting the Monaco Aquarium in the late 1980s and seeing a lot of indoor ponds on display. As I recall, however, the only fish that
occupied these ponds was Tilapia buttikoferi,
also known as the hornet or zebra tilapia. An
article of mine, “Tilapia joka—The Clown
Tilapia Is No Joker at Spawning Time,” was
published in this magazine in the July 2005
issue, and as the title implies, it focused
on the spawning of that species. T. joka is
quite similar to T. buttikoferi except that the
buttikoferi have more of a pointed snout and
are a bit more aggressive.
Description
T. buttikoferi have eight vertical black
stripes on a grayish white body, with another
vertical stripe running through the eye. Also,
the throat is black on this species. I have
seen photos of specimens with bluish or
purplish stripes similar to the newest color
