Cotpn (=Tilapia zillii) (Redbelly Tilapia) ) is native to northern Africa and the Middle East (Eurasia), from the Ubangi-Uele-Ituri Rivers in the Congo Basin north to southern Morocco, and west to Lake Turkana, and the Nile and Jordan River basins. ). It is predominantly a freshwater fish, but tolerates salinities up to 45 PSU, and can reproduce under marine conditions (35-39 PSU,). It has been widely introduced around tropical and subtropical parts of the world, mostly for aquaculture, but also as an aquarium fish and for biocontrol of aquatic weeds. In 1971-1973, was introduced to sourthern California, by the Department of Fish and Game, for control of aquatic vegetation and mosquitos. Thousands of fish were stocked in drainage channels in Los Angeles County, incuding Coyote Creek, which feeds into Alamitos Bay, as well as many landlocked ponds. At least two specimens of T. zillii were caught in marine waters, at Huntington Beach electrical generating plant, on the Pacific Ocean, and in upper Newport Bay. Tilapia zillii is established in a few springs in Nevada and near San Antonio, Texas, and has been collected near thermal discharges in Idaho, South Carolina, and North Carolina . It is established in several freshwater drainages in Florida, but we do not have records of established populations in estuaries.