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Lake Kivu pp 127–152Cite as

Fishes in Lake Kivu: Diversity and Fisheries

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Part of the book series: Aquatic Ecology Series ((AQEC,volume 5))

Abstract

This contribution reviews the knowledge on fish diversity and fisheries in Lake Kivu, with an emphasis on the biology and stock assessment of the introduced Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon. Lake Kivu is famous, compared to the other African great lakes, for its poor fish fauna, with 29 species comprising a.o. 15 endemic haplochromines and a few non-native species. In a first part devoted to diversity and biogeography, all species are briefly described, with some details on their biology and ecology in the lake. A second part of this chapter focuses on the non-native Limnothrissa miodon, with a review on its biology, on its past and present abundance, and on available data on the production of the pelagic fishery of this species. The main conclusion is that the fishery yield is relatively low, amounting ∼10,000 t year−1. A recent concern is the arrival of a possible competitor, Lamprichthys tanganicanus, an endemic fish to Lake Tanganyika. Future studies should be conducted on the food web of the littoral zone, where most endemic cichlids are located. More detailed fisheries surveys are also needed, in order to estimate the pressure on the different species.

To the biologist the main interest of Lake Kivu is the relative poverty of the fauna and its ecological immaturity (Beadle 1981)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium

    Jos Snoeks

  2. Institut Supérieur Pédagogique, Bukavu, D.R. Congo

    Boniface Kaningini & Pascal Masilya

  3. National University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda

    Laetitia Nyina-wamwiza

  4. INRA, UMR CARRTEL, Centre Alpin de Recherche sur les Réseaux Trophiques et Ecosystèmes Limniques, Thonon-les-Bains, France

    Jean Guillard

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  1. Jos Snoeks
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  2. Boniface Kaningini
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  3. Pascal Masilya
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  4. Laetitia Nyina-wamwiza
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  5. Jean Guillard
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Correspondence to Jos Snoeks .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Biology, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, Namur, 5000, Belgium

    Jean-Pierre Descy

  2. , Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Allée du 6-Août 17, Liège, 4000, Belgium

    François Darchambeau

  3. EAWAG, Seestrasse 79, Kastanienbaum, 6047, Switzerland

    Martin Schmid

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Snoeks, J., Kaningini, B., Masilya, P., Nyina-wamwiza, L., Guillard, J. (2012). Fishes in Lake Kivu: Diversity and Fisheries. In: Descy, JP., Darchambeau, F., Schmid, M. (eds) Lake Kivu. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4243-7_8

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