Personeelslijst
Emmanuel Vreven
Biologie
Vertebraten
Vertebraten
Beschrijving
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. (PR).
Article in a scientific Journal / Article in a Journal
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.