Abstract
The freshwaters of the East African nation of Ethiopia are divided into nine main drainage basins. One of these, the Omo-Turkana basin, spans a large part of southwestern Ethiopian highlands and northern Kenya, and consists of the Omo-Gibe (or simply, Omo) River and a northern portion of Lake Turkana. Despite some development activities, including proposed dam construction with potential impacts on ichthyofaunal diversity, the Ethiopian part of the basin generally lacks comprehensive study or full scientific documentation. During the current surveys 31 species were identified from the lower Omo River and Ethiopian part of Lake Turkana, with some new records for the basin. The Omo River system was found to be richer in species while Lake Turkana has a higher abundance. Ichthyofaunal diversity within Ethiopian waters is specifically addressed, and an annotated checklist for native species of the basin is provided.
Highlights
Ethiopia’s inland waters are in nine main drainage basins situated within major physiogeographic units
31 fish species (26 from river sites and 24 from the lake) in 22 genera, 17 families and seven orders were identified from the collections of both localities (Figures 3 and 4; Table 2)
Within OmoTurkan basin, 24 species are restricted to the Omo River system (Table 4), of which five (Enteromius arambourgi, Garra chebera, Neobola bottegoi, Afronemacheilus kaffa and Aplocheilichthys jeanneli) are endemic to the river basin
Summary
Ethiopia’s inland waters (lakes, rivers and streams) are in nine main drainage basins situated within major physiogeographic units. The Omo-Turkana basin, spans a large part of the southwestern Ethiopian highlands and northern Kenya (Feibel 2011; Velpuri et al 2012) (Figure 1). The basin was first explored for its ichthyofaunal diversity in the second half of the 19th century during Dr Donald Smith’s Lake Turkana expedition (1894–1895). Eight spe cies, with one new description, were identified from the Smith Lake Turkana collection (Günther 1896). In the early 20th century, five species were identified from the Omo River collections of R.
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