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The occurrence of an Eastern African haplochromine cichlid in the Ituri River (Aruwimi, Congo basin): adaptive divergence in an introduced species?

  • ADVANCES IN CICHLID RESEARCH II
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Abstract

Recently, specimens belonging to the genus ‘Haplochromis’ have been found in the Ituri River (Congo basin). They clearly do not belong to any of the species known from the Congo basin, but strongly resemble ‘H’. aeneocolor from the Lake Edward/George system. We examined whether this population represents a new species or is conspecific with ‘H’. aeneocolor. A morphological comparative study was executed based on 11 counts and 23 measurements on 64 specimens. The results revealed the Ituri specimens to differ from the types of ‘H’. aeneocolor in snout length, premaxillary pedicel length and eye diameter. Since these few differences are correlated, and head morphology is known to be subject to adaptive responses in haplochromine cichlids, they were considered the result of morphological adaptation to a riverine habitat rather than an indication of heterospecificity. Probably, ‘H’. aeneocolor has accidentally been introduced into the Ituri region together with tilapias used in aquaculture, and has subsequently established a stable population in a riverine environment. As fish introductions can have a severe impact on aquatic ecosystems, improving our knowledge as well as a good management of aquacultural activities is essential.

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Acknowledgements

The ‘Stichting tot Bevordering van het Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Afrika’ funded part of the 2009 & 2011 expeditions by EV to the Ituri region. We thank Erwin Schraml (Ausburg) for confirming the identification of the photographs of the Ituri specimens as ‘H’. aeneocolor; O. Seehausen (Bern University) and U. Schliewen (ZS München) for sharing unpublished molecular results of the Ituri samples; J. Maclaine (NHM, London) for the loan of the type series of ‘H’. aeneocolor under his care, and D. Thys van den Audenaerde (RMCA) and A. Walanga (CSB, Kisangani) for providing information concerning historical and present fish-farming activities in the Ituri region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section Vertebrates, Ichthyology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium

    Eva Decru, Emmanuel Vreven & Jos Snoeks

  2. Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000, Louvain, Belgium

    Eva Decru, Emmanuel Vreven & Jos Snoeks

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  1. Eva Decru
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  2. Emmanuel Vreven
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Correspondence to Eva Decru.

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Guest editors: S. Koblmüller, R. C. Albertson, M. J. Genner, K. M. Sefc & T. Takahashi / Advances in Cichlid Research II: Behavior, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

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Decru, E., Vreven, E. & Snoeks, J. The occurrence of an Eastern African haplochromine cichlid in the Ituri River (Aruwimi, Congo basin): adaptive divergence in an introduced species?. Hydrobiologia 791, 209–220 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2857-9

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