The role of satellite water bodies in the evolution and conservation of Lake Victoria Region fishes

Abstract

AbstractThe Lake Victoria Region (LVR) can rightly be regarded as one of the sites of the world's worst vertebrate species extinction of the twentieth century. The LVR, which includes Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, Edward and George, and numerous small satellite lakes around each of the main lakes, originally contained over 500 species of fish. As a result of human influence, including the establishment of a commercial fishery and the introduction of several exotic species, hundreds of endemic species have gone extinct in this evolutionarily young system. Recently, it was discovered that part of the apparently extinct fish biodiversity from the main lakes continues to exist in several of the minor satellite lakes around the main lakes. The findings of the ecological survey of the fish species of the satellite lakes are summarized and results of some preliminary genetic analysis are discussed. Major genetic and ecological changes in the fish fauna that have taken place in the LVR fishery are highlighted. Emphasis is put on the importance of the minor lakes in conserving the endangered fish species of the entire region, and their role as preserves of the history of the LVR. The findings allude to the historical importance of minor satellite lakes as ‘life boats’ and natural refugia for the fishes of the LVR, a region historically characterized by geological and climatic volatility.