Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: Denis Tweddle Roger Bills Jim Cambray Johan Engelbrecht J Kazembe Brian Marshall T Moelants Emmanuel Vreven Albert Chakona Olaf Weyl
Facilitators: Dewidine Van Der Colff
Reviewers: Jos Snoeks

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

This species has a wide distribution, with no known major widespread threats. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.

Distribution

This species is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from the upper Congo to the east coast in Tanzania and south to Natal, South Africa. In central Africa, it is known from the southern tributaries of the Congo system. In eastern Africa, it is found in Malawi where it occurs in all streams as well as in lakes Malawi, Chilwa, and Chiuta (Tweddle 1983, 1979, 1996, Tweddle and Willoughby 1978, 1979). In Tanzania it is found in the Ruvuma. In southern Africa, it is widely distributed from southern Tanzania to the Umvoti River, KwaZulu-Natal and the lower Orange River, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is absent from the upper Zambezi tributaries where it is replaced by the related species Enteromius poechii.

Population trend

Trend

This is a very common species. In Malawi it is common throughout the country and even thrives in degraded streams where other species that depend on more pristine conditions have disappeared. It is particularly abundant in streams flowing off Mulanje mountain into Lake Chilwa. It was not, however, very common at any of the sites sampled during a survey of the Orange River in South Africa (Skelton and Cambray 1981) and the global population trend is unknown.

Threats

No major threats to this species are known. However, in eastern Africa it is used as bait for tigerfish, and is sold as suitable for ponds and larger aquariums (Skelton 1993). This extraction could be a potential threat. There are also localised threats known in the Luapula-Mweru region (overfishing) and in the Katanga region (mining).
This is a species that, unlike many other small barbs, survives well in degraded habitats and thus is less vulnerable to deterioration in stream quality than other barbs.

Uses and trade

In eastern Africa it is used as bait for tigerfish, and is sold as suitable for ponds and larger aquariums (Skelton 1993). It is targeted in small scale subsistence fisheries in small streams in Malawi.

Conservation

Populations of this species occur in many protected areas throughout its range.

References 

[@article{2428,
 author = {Skelton, P.H. and Cambray, J.A.},
 title = {Freshwater fishes of the middle and lower Orange River},
 year = {1981}
}
,@techreport{63281,
 author = {Van der Colff, D., Chackona, A. and Raimondo, D.},
 institution = {South African National Biodiversity Institute & South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown},
 title = {Proceedings of the Red List of South Africa's Fresh Water Fish assessment workshop},
 year = {2016}
}
,@article{181632,
 author = {Tweddle, D},
 title = {The zoogeography of the fish fauna of the Lake Chilwa basin. In: Lake Chilwa, studies of change in a tropical ecosystem, edited by Kalk, M., McLachlan, A.J. & Howard- Williams, C.  W. Junk, The Hague, Monogr. Biol., 35:171-181.},
 year = {1979}
}
,@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@techreport{181632,
 author = {Tweddle, D. and  Willoughby, N.G.},
 institution = {Rome, FAO,  FI:MLW/75/019/1: 32 pp.},
 title = {Electrofishing survey of the affluent streams of Lake Malawi in the Viphya-Chintheche area.  },
 year = {1978}
}
,@article{181777,
 author = {Tweddle, D.},
 title = {The fish and fisheries of Lake Chiuta},
 year = {1983}
}
,@book{181777,
 address = {Halfway House},
 author = {Skelton, P.H.},
 publisher = {Southern Book Publishers (Pty), Ltd},
 title = {A Complete Guide of the Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa},
 year = {1993}
}
,@article{182167,
 author = {Tweddle, D},
 title = {Fish survey of Nkhotakota wildlife reserve. A report to the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on behalf of the Wildlife Society of Malawi.},
 year = {1996}
}
,@article{182167,
 author = {Tweddle, D and Willoughby, N.G.},
 title = {An annonated checklist of the fish fauna of the River Shire south of Kapachira falls. Unpublished report},
 year = {1979}
}
,]
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