Fishes of the N’sele River (Pool Malebo, Congo basin, Central Africa): a list of species collected in the main channel and affluent tributaries, Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

By

Iyaba, Raoul J. C. Monsembula
Liyandja, Tobit
Stiassny, Melanie L. J.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2013-10-1

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

9

Series / Issue

Issue: 5

Pages

941--956

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/9.5.941

 

Abstract

A list of fishes collected in the N’sele River, a large affluent tributary of Pool Malebo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo is provided. Sites along the main channel and its affluent tributaries were sampled and 148 species distributed in 27 families are reported. Despite close proximity to the megacity of Kinshasa, the ichthyofauna of the N’sele River has not previously been documented, and in the course of the current study, 19 of the 148 species are recognized as new records for the region. Due to difficulties of access much of the middle reach of the N’sele River remains to be inventoried and, while the present report documents high diversity in this system, the list is likely to be incomplete. Although preliminary, the current report provides a solid foundation for further work in a region that is undergoing rapid environmental degradation.