Astatotilapia species (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, excluding the basin of Lake Victoria.

The haplochromine cichlid fauna of the rivers and smaller lakes of Tanzania and SE Africa are of key importance in understanding the origins and inter-relationships of the great lake cichlid radiations of Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria. Prior to formal taxonomic investigations, here we present the results of investigations of the type specimens, identification of type localities and superficial characterisation of freshly-collected material. The type locality of Astatotilapia bloyeti (Sauvage, 1883) is identified as the Mkondowa River, near Kilosa. This species appears to be the only haplochromine found in the Wami system. It is concluded that junior synonyms of A. bloyeti include A. strigigena (Pfeffer, 1893), A. kilossana (Steindachner, 1915) and A. paludinosa Greenwood, 1980. Astatotilapia sparsidens (Hilgendorf, 1905) is closely related and may constitute a junior synonym or a sister taxon. The range of A. bloyeti includes the Pangani system. The type locality for Astatotilapia gigliolii (Pfeffer, 1896) is identified as the Kingani River, or southern Ruvu, where it appears to be the only haplochromine in the river system. Junior synonyms include Astatotilapia vollmeringi (Steindachner, 1915) from the Great Ruaha River at Kidatu and Astatotilapia tweddlei Jackson, 1985 from Lakes Chilwa and Chiuta. The species is also reported from the lower part of the Rufiji system, the Ruvuma system and from other lakes and rivers in between. A few specimens were also collected in and around a fish farm at Songea, in the upper reaches of the Ruhuhu system (Lake Malawi catchment). Apart from this record, the only Astatotilapia species in the Lake Malawi catchment is A. calliptera. Four undescribed Astatotilapia species are identified from the Rufiji system, while other possibly undescribed taxa from the basins of Lake Tanganyika and Rukwa are discussed.

New desmid records from two high mountain lakes in Camlıhemşin/Rize (Turkey)

The benthic algal flora of Avusor Great Lake and Ko?d?z? Great Lake in Rize was investigated on 21 August 2019. A total of 37 desmid taxa belonging to the genera Actinotaenium (2), Closterium (6), Cosmarium (12), Euastrum (4), Micrasterias (3), Penium (1), Staurastrum (8) and Staurodesmus (1) were assessed as new records for Turkey. In this paper, the morphotaxonomy, ecology, and distribution of each species is discussed in detail.

First Hydroacoustic Assessment Of Fish Abundance And Distribution In The Shallow Sub-Basin Of Lake Titicaca

For the last two decades, a rapid eutrophication process impacts Lake Titicaca, the largest tropical freshwater lake in South America and the main highest Great Lake. This is especially notorious in the Bolivian sector of its shallow Lago Menor sub-basin. Lago Menor is deteriorated by the combination of multiple contaminations (domestic, industrial and mining) from untreated wastewater discharged from the urban area of El Alto, indiscriminate overfishing, and climate change. These threats particularly affect the native Andean killifish genus Orestias, the ecology and dynamics of which require in-depth studies with non-invasive techniques.