Red List of South African Species

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Notes

Pseudobarbus tenuis was described by Barnard in 1938 based on specimens that were collected from the Gouritz River System (Eschmeyer et al. 2018). This species was previously considered to be distributed across three isolated river systems, the Gouritz, Bitou and Keurbooms, on the south coast of South Africa (Skelton 2001). A genetic study by Swartz et al. (2009) however showed substantial genetic divergence between populations of Pseudobarbus tenuis from the Gouritz and those from the Keurbooms and Bitou river systems. The level of genetic divergence between the Gouritz population (here after P. tenuis sensu stricto) and the Keurbooms-Bitou population (hereafter Pseudobarbus sp. ‘tenuis Keurbooms’) is comparable to typical interspecific divergences found between redfin minnows of the genus Pseudobarbus. Pseudobarbus sp. ‘tenuis Keurbooms’ is thus likely to represent a previously unrecognised species. A detailed taxonomic investigation is underway to determine the taxonomic integrity of Pseudobarbus sp. ‘tenuis Keurbooms’. This assessment is restricted to populations in the Keurbooms and Bitou rivers and excludes all distributions from the Gouritz River System as these belong to Pseudobarbus tenuis sensu stricto.

habitat_narrative

Freshwater (=Inland waters)

The Keurbooms Redfin co-occurs with another redfin minnow, Pseudobarbus sp. afer 'Forest' in the Keurbooms and Bitou River systems, although these two taxa have not been recorded in sympatry (Skelton, 1994). Pseudobarbus tenuis typically occurs in the headwater streams, while Pseudobarbus sp. afer 'Forest' is generally associated with the peat stained Afrotemperate Forest rivers of the lower Keurbooms and Bitou systems. Very little is known about the biology and ecology of the Keurbooms Redfin but it is likely to feed off the substrate on detritus, algae, and bottom-living and other invertebrates as reported for other redfins. Little is known about the reproductive biology of Pseudobarbus sp. tenuis 'Keurbooms' but it is likely that they are spring/summer spawners similar to other redfins (Pseudobarbus species).

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