Fishes in Lake Kivu: Diversity and Fisheries

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.