Belongs within: Pseudocrenilabrinae.
Tilapia is a genus of cichlid fishes, found in southern Africa, in which the articulation of the base of the skull with the upper pharyngeal bones is formed from the parasphenoid alone.
<==Tilapia
|--*T. (Tilapia) sparrmaniiB06
|--T. (Coptodon)STP94
| |--T. (C.) deckerti Thys van den Audenaerde 1967STP94, B06
| |--T. (C.) guineensis (Günther 1862)STP94, KC-L22
| |--T. (C.) kottaeSTP94
| `--T. (C.) zilli (Gervais 1848)STP94, C01 [=Oreochromis zilliB96, Sarotherodon zilliB96]
`--+--+--+--T. flavaSTP94
| | `--T. imbrifronsSTP94
| `--+--T. beminiSTP94
| |--T. spongotroktisSTP94
| `--T. thysiSTP94
`--+--T. gutturosaSTP94
`--+--T. bakossiSTP94
`--+--T. bythobates Stiassny, Schliewen & Dominey 1992STP94, B06
`--T. snyderaeSTP94
Tilapia incertae sedis:
T. boops Boulenger 1901B01
T. brevimanus Boulenger 1911B06
T. busumana (Guenther 1913)B06
T. buttikoferi (Hubrecht 1881)B06
T. dageti Thys van den Audenaerde 1967KC-L22
T. discolorB06
T. esculentaG74
T. grahamiCS77
T. joka Thys van den Audenaerde 1969B06
T. karongaeM47
T. leucostictaB96
T. lidoleM47
T. macrochirB96
T. melanopleuraB96
T. natalensisBHN02
T. pleurotaenia Boulenger 1901B01
T. rendalli (Boulenger 1897)C01
T. spilurusW73
T. trematocephala Boulenger 1901B01
T. variabilisG74
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BHN02] Beeching, S. C., B. A. Holt & M. P. Neiderer. 2002. Ontogeny of melanistic color pattern elements in the convict cichlid, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. Copeia 2002 (1): 199–203.
[B96] Bond, C. E. 1996. Biology of Fishes 2nd ed. Saunders College Publishing: Fort Worth.
[B06] Boruchowitz, D. E. 2006. Guide to Cichlids. T.F.H. Publications: Neptune City (New Jersey).
[B01] Boulenger, G. A. 1901. Diagnoses of new fishes discovered by Mr. J. E. S. Moore in Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu. II. Cichlidae, Mastacembelidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 1–6.
[C01] Carpenter, K. E. 2001. Cichlidae. Cichlids. In: Carpenter, K. E., & V. H. Niem (eds) FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific vol. 5. Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae) pp. 3333–3336. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome.
[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
[G74] Greenwood, P. H. 1974. The cichlid fishes of Lake Vistoria, East Africa: The biology and evolution of a species flock. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Zoology Suppl. 6: 1–134.
[KC-L22] Kmentová, N., A. J. Cruz-Laufer, A. Pariselle, K. Smeets, T. Artois & M. P. M. Vanhove. 2022. Dactylogyridae 2022: a meta-analysis of phylogenetic studies and generic diagnoses of parasitic flatworms using published genetic and morphological data. International Journal for Parasitology 52: 427–457.
[M47] Mayr, E. 1947. Ecological factors in speciation. Evolution 1: 263–288.
[STP94] Schliewen, U. K., D. Tautz & S. Pääbo. 1994. Sympatric speciation suggested by monophyly of crater lake cichlids. Nature 368: 629–632.
[W73] Woodruff, D. S. 1973. Natural hybridization and hybrid zones. Systematic Zoology 22 (3): 213–218.