The distribution and identification of mormyrid fishes in Malawi, with notes on the synonymy of Marcusenius nyasensis and M. livingstonii (Mormyriformes: Mormyridae)
- Authors: Tweddle, D S C , Willoughby, N G , J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology
- Date: 1982-09
- Subjects: Fishes -- Identification , Fishes -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69929 , vital:29596 , Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)) Periodicals Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB))
- Description: Online version of original print edition of the Special Publication of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 24 , Electrofishing surveys throughout Malawi have increased the number of mormyrid species known to occur in the country, expanded known ranges of the species and cast doubts on some earlier records. The distribution of each of the eight recorded species is given, and a key is provided for the identification of the species. The available evidence suggests that Gnathonemus nyasensis Worthington, 1933 is a junior synonym of Marcusenius livingstonii (Boulenger, 1898) a species described from the Ruvuma River of Tanzania. Geological evidence supports fish distribution evidence that indicates links between Lake Malawi and East Coast Rivers. Some affinities are also noted between Lake Malawi and Upper Zambezi/Zaire faunas.
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- Date Issued: 1982-09
The nature of the barriers separating the Lake Malawi and Zambezi fish faunas
- Authors: Tweddle, D S C , Lewis, Digby S C , Willoughby, N G
- Date: 1979
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:15018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019797 , ISBN 086810003X , Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 39
- Description: Part 1: The nature of the barriers separating the Lake Malawi and Zambezi fish faunas: The nature of the barrier separating the ‘Lake Malawi’ from the ‘Lower Zambezi’ fish faunas was investigated by electrofishing the 145 km stretch of the Shire River surrounding the Murchison cataracts. The study shows that the lowermost element of the cataracts, the Kapachira Falls, is an absolute physical barrier to upstream movement of ‘Lower Zambezi’ species. The barrier to downstream movement by ‘Lake Malawi’ species is largely ecological and has two components, the fluviatile nature of the Upper and Middle Shire and especially the torrential nature of the cataracts, which are unsuitable for lacustrine species, and competition with the ‘Lower Zambezi’ fauna of the Lower Shire by the few species which succeed in negotiating the cataracts. , Part 2: An annotated checklist of the fish fauna of the River Shire south of Kapachira Falls, Malawi: The Shire River drains Lake Malawi and is a major tributary of the Lower Zambezi River. Sixty-one species of fish have been recorded in the lower reaches which are separated from the lower Shire basin by the Kapachira Falls and from the ‘East Coast River’ fauna present in the Upper Ruo River by the Zoa Falls. The fauna is essentially similar to that of the Lower Zambezi, although some Lake Malawi endemics occur sporadically in the upper part of the flood plain. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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- Date Issued: 1979