Original description as Tilapia kottae:
ZooBank:14E0D23F-BD88-4DB0-92A8-6D3BE388B3CE.
- Lönnberg, Einar. 1904. "On some fishes from the lakes of the Cameroon Mountain". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. [Series 7]135-139 (crc00988)
Conservation: Coptodon kottae is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (EN) endangered (2009). Coptodon kottae is currently under major threat from oil plantations and slash-and-burn agriculture leading to sedimentation and pollution in Barombi-ba-kotta. There is also a potential threat from the lake 'burping' CO2 — as in Lake Nyos and Lake Bermin. In addition, deforestation of the surroundings of the crater may cause more wind which could lead to the lake turning of its stratified layers, with the lower layer being very low in oxygen and high in organic matter. Higher winds may cause currents in the lake which could cause this lower layer to mix with the upper layer where the fish live. This would cause a massive decrease in oxygen in the water and kill the fish (Moelants, 2017).