Summary
A number of small pelagic fish species were found in the new Volta Lake in Ghana. Three, the clupeids Cynothrissa mento and Pellonula afzeliusi, and the schilbeid Physailia pellucida, rapidly became dominant, and these together with another schilbeid Siluranodon auritus and the clupeid-like cyprinid Barilius niloticus are here considered.
Pellonula and Physailia eat chiefly invertebrates; the former especially at the surface, the latter in mid-depths or at the bottom. Zooplankton is important to all sizes of Physailia, but only to juveniles of Pellonula. Barilius feeds almost entirely on adventitous forms taken at the surface and Siluranodon on algae and rotifers. Cynothrissa, the largest fish studied, feeds mainly on fish. The food range taken is thus wide, and differences in diet are discussed in terms of the probable future of each species in the new lake as it matures.
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This paper is taken from a thesis accepted for the M. Sc. Degree of the University of Dublin.
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Reynolds, J.D. Biology of the small pelagic fishes in the new Volta Lake in Ghana. Hydrobiologia 35, 568–603 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184576
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00184576