Oreochromis leucostictus (the blue-spotted tilapia) is a species of cichlid native to Albertine Rift Valley lakes and associated rivers in DR Congo and Uganda.

Mature males have elongated filamentous tips to the dorsal and anal fins, but do not have enlarged jaws (in contrast to species like Oreochromis mossambicus).

[3] The natural distribution of this fish is in the catchments of Lakes Edward, George and Albert, in Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was introduced in Lake Victoria into the 1950s, and is now abundant there, having largely supplanted the native endemic Oreochromis variabilis, although the latter is known to persist in some rocky offshore islands.

It was later introduced into Lake Naivasha in Kenya, where it hybridised with and then replaced the formerly abundant Kenyan endemic Oreochromis spilurus nigra.

[5] The species has also been widely distributed in Tanzania, probably as a contaminant of Nile tilapia sourced from Lake Victoria and stocked for aquaculture or attempted fishery improvement.

This trait is presumably well developed in this species because it is adapted to live in shallow marginal habitats and so is likely to find itself cut off in pools which may eventually dry up and where larger fish are vulnerable to predators such as birds.