[2] Along with other tilapias, T. simonis is commonly caught as a food fish in parts of its range and it is commercially important in Lake Tiberias.

The primary location is Lake Tiberias where it remained common, the population was not threatened and fisheries are well-controlled (unlike other parts of its range).

[4] Two northern populations, Tristramella intermedia from Lake Hula and magdelainea from the vicinity of Damascus, are extinct,[5][6][7] but their taxonomic status is uncertain.

[5][6] The deliberate draining of Lake Hula in the 1950s led to the extinction of intermidia, along with the cyprinid fish Mirogrex hulensis.

In contrast to the conservation status in much of its native range, a survey in Syria in 2008 found that T. simonis had been introduced to the Nahr al-Kabir and Orontes basins.

[10][13] In Lake Tiberias, adults are found in open-water schools for much of the year, while the young live in sheltered habitats near the shore.

[3] The species can reach maturity when 16 cm (6.5 in) long,[10] and breeding is from March to August, with a female being able to spawn two or three times in a season.