[1] They live in waters that are warm (mostly 30–42.8 °C [86–109 °F], although occasionally down to 20 °C [68 °F]), hypersaline (salinity above 40‰) and alkaline (pH above 10).

[1] They are fairly small fish, with the largest species reaching up to 20 cm (7.9 in) in standard length.

[3] They mostly feed on algae and cyanobacteria, but also take other plant material, fish eggs, fry and remains, and insects in smaller quantities (except A. alcalica, which feed on other plant material at about the same level as algae and cyanobacteria).

Similar to Alcolapia, O. amphimelas inhabits Tanzanian lakes that can be highly alcaline and saline.

[2] A potential solution is to merge Alcolapia into Oreochromis,[2] as done by Catalog of Fishes.