Of the three species of fish caught by commercial fishermen in the Limpopo River system of Mozambique, only the Mozambique tilapia is native. The Nile tilapia is native to north and west Africa (Mozambique is in southern Africa) and is the most widely cultured tilapia in hte world but is not native to Mozambique but was introduced here through aquaculture. The 3-Spot tilapia is native to Zambia and the middle and upper Zambezi River system. Like the Nile tilapia, it is not native to Mozambique. The 3-Spot tilapia was stocked into a reservoir in Botswana and later worked its way downstream in the Limpopo system where, like the Nile tilapia, it has become firmly established in the wild fisheries. This part of the Limpopo system is in the southern part of Mozambique where the greater cold tolerance of the Mozambique and 3-Spot tilapias allow them to keep feeding, growing, and spawning at temperatures that slow down the Nile tilapia (though still a very competitive species). The Mozambique tilapia is the most salt tolerant of the three species, even able to spawn in full strength sea waster, and soils and water in this part of Mozambique can be very saline. All three do well under aquaculture conditions.