An annotated checklist of the fish fauna of the river systems draining the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Upper Congo: Eastern DR Congo)
Authors
Kisekelwa, T.
Snoeks, J.
Vreven, E.
Discipline
Biological sciences
Subject
Vertebrates
Audience
Scientific
Date
2020Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP), situated mainly in the Eastern Highlands  Ecoregion of the Upper Congo basin, is drained by the Lowa and Ulindi  rivers, and some western affluents of Lake Kivu. In this study, the first list of  the fish diversity of these systems is provided based on museum collections and  complemented, for the Lowa River system and the western Lake Kivu affluents,  with recently collected specimens (2013 2017). A total of 118 species are  reported from the Lowa basin, 22 from the Ulindi basin and seven from these  Lake Kivu affluents. Within the Lowa and Ulindi, respectively, five and one species,  all cichlids, have been introduced. Currently, 51 species are reported from  within the park, only two of which have been reported from the highlands, i.e.,  Amphilius kivuensis from the Luha, the source of the Luka River, and Clarias  liocephalus from the headwaters of the Lake Kivu  affluents. With a total of  30 species, Cyprinidae is by far the largest family, representing 25% of the total  species diversity of the Lowa basin. It is followed by Mormyridae with 13 species  (11%), Alestidae and Mochokidae with 10 species each (8%), Clariidae and  Amphiliidae with eight species (7%), and Distichodontidae with six species (5%).  Seven new species for science were discovered and 11 species were found to  be endemic to the Lowa system. Although further exploration is needed, this  underscores the importance of the KBNP in protecting the fish fauna of the  Lowa basin but also highlights the park's limited coverage of the fish fauna of  the Lowa basin.
Citation
Kisekelwa, T.; Snoeks, J.; Vreven, E. (2020). An annotated checklist of the fish fauna of the river systems draining the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Upper Congo: Eastern DR Congo). , Journal of Fish Biology, DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14264.Identifiers
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng
