Red List of South African Species

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Notes

It must be noted that Pseudobarbus erubescens formerly belonged to the genus Barbus, but following the work of Yang et al. (2015), the genus Pseudobarbus was expanded to include additional species resulting in the renaming of the Twee River redfin to ‘Pseudobarbus’ erubescens (Skelton 2016).

habitat_narrative

Freshwater (=Inland waters)

Adults prefer sheltered areas in pools, particularly near overhanging vegetation and caves formed by boulders. Juveniles are usually found in pools, forming schools in the upper water column, near palmiet (Prionium serratum) beds or beneath overhanging vegetation. Adults reach a maximum age of six years, maturing after two years at an average size of 45 mm in males and 42 mm in females (Marriot 1998). This species spawns in late spring (October) to early summer (December), with an asynchronous, iteroparous pattern of egg development (Marriot 1998). Females contain up to 400 ova at various stages of development (Marriot 1998). The body and fin bases of both sexes develop an overall reddish hue during the breeding season, with males also characterised by having small nuptial tubercles on the head (Skelton 1988). The diet of the Twee River Redfin is dominated by benthic invertebrates although adults frequently feed on drift material and terrestrial insects floating on the water surface (Marriot 1998).
The successful establishment of the Twee River Redfin in an off-stream impoundment illustrates plasticity in life history traits of this species that enables it to successfully colonise novel environments. The available habitat in the impoundment was mainly sand and gravel substrate with rocks and boulders and no marginal or submerged vegetation (Jordaan et al. 2016). Aquatic invertebrates were sampled from the impoundment as aquatic invertebrates are the primary food source of Twee River Redfin.

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