Lake Tana's piscivorous Barbus (Cyprinidae, Ethiopia) ecology - evolution - exploitation

The 15 Barbus species of Lake Tana, a large shallow lake located at an altitude of 1830 m in the north-western highlands of Ethiopia, form the only remaining intact species flock of large (max. 100cm) cyprinid fishes. Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and high waterfalls (40 m) at Tissisat ('smoking water'), 30 km downstream from the outflow, effectively isolate the lake's ichtyofauna from the lower Nile basin.Lake Tana and its endemic Barbus species flock form a natural laboratory and provide an unique opportunity to study the selective forces driving speciation and diversity in freshwater fish communities. Lake Tana's Barbus species flock was investigated from molecules to populations.The rapid ecological diversification and speciation of Lake Tana's Barbus is at least as spectacular as the adaptive radiation of the cichlids in East-Africa's Rift Valley Lakes (Victoria, Malawi and Tanganyika). One of the most intriguing aspects of these Barbus is the large number (8) of piscivores. Cyprinid fishes are not well designed for piscivory. Furthermore, one of the key innovations in the bodyplan of the evolutionary successful cyprinid fishes (>2000 species), the voluminous palatal organ lining the pharynx, turned out to have come at a cost: their reduced competitive abilities to function as piscivores. However, Lake Tana lacks potential piscivorous competitors, rendering the piscivorous Barbus by far the "best" and apparently highly successful. They have adapted to all available macro-habitats, using different techniques, a unique scenario for barbs.The lack of fisheries legislation and regulations after the introduction of a small-scale commercial gillnet fishery in Lake Tana towards the end of the 1980s, resulted in the rapid and dramatic decline (75%) of Barbus during the 1990s. The gillnet fisheries mainly targets the spawning aggregations of the barbs (recruitment-overfishing) and is now threatening the existence of this remarkable species flock.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	de Graaf, M.
Other Authors:	Osse, J.W.M.
Format:	Doctoral thesis biblioteca
Language:	English
Subjects:	animal ecology, barbus, cyprinidae, ethiopia, evolution, fishery biology, fishery resources, freshwater ecology, lakes, resource utilization, zoology, dierecologie, ethiopië, evolutie, hulpbronnengebruik, meren, visbestand, visserijbiologie, zoetwaterecologie, zoölogie,
Online Access:	https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/lake-tanas-piscivorous-barbus-cyprinidae-ethiopia-ecology-evoluti
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