Original description as Tilapia esculenta:
ZooBank:15A17B30-8E74-471C-A7C7-303910A4AD97.
- Graham, M.. 1928. "Tilapia esculenta, a new species of cichlid fish from the Victoria Nyanza, with notes on the habits of this species and the nearly-related Tilapia variabilis, Blgr". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (Ser10)2:8209-213 (crc01224)
Conservation: Oreochromis esculentus is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (CR) critically endangered (2006).