Mastacembelus shiranus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	SYNBRANCHIFORMES	MASTACEMBELIDAE

Scientific Name:

Mastacembelus shiranus

Species Authority:

(Günther, 1896)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Malawi Spinyeel

Taxonomic Notes:

Vreven (accepted) placed the African genera Caecomastecembelus and Aethiomastacembelus in synonymy with Mastacembelus.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2006
Assessor/s:	Kazembe, J. & Vreven, E.
Reviewer/s:	Snoeks, J. (Freshwater Fish Red List Authority) & Darwall, W. (Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Programme)
Justification: Endemic to Malawi, Lake Malombe and the Lower Shire River where it is widespread and has no known widespread major threats.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Endemic to Lake Malawi and its catchment, the upper and lower Shire and Lake Malombe.
Countries:	Native: Malawi; Mozambique; Tanzania, United Republic of
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	A common species.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Mainly occurs in shallow water. Observed in rocky habitats but most individuals are caught in sandy areas. Also occurs among macrophytes in lower courses of rivers. Probably feeds on invertebrates and small fishes. This species has also been observed under the shelter of floating islands in Lake Malawi. These islands may assist in the dispersal of this species in the lake.
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	No information available.

Major Threat(s):

No information available.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	None known.

Conservation Actions:

None known.

Bibliography [top]

	Günther, A. 1896. Descriptions of two new species of fishes (Mastacembelus and Barbus). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6: 397 IUCN. 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 May 2006. Oliver, M.K. and McKaye, K.R. 1982. Floating islands: a means of fish dispersal in Lake Malawi, Africa. Copeia 4: 748–754. Skelton P.H. 1993. A Complete Guide of the Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers (Pty), Ltd, Harare. Tweddle, D 1993. River fishes of Lake Malawi catchment area. Part 1: Fishes of intermittent drainages. Nyala 16(2): 55–72. Tweddle, D. 1996. Fish survey of Nkhotakota wildlife reserve. A report to the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on behalf of the Wildlife Society of Malawi. In: JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology. Investigational report. No. 53. Tweddle, D. and Skelton, P. 1993. River fishes of Lake Malawi catchment area. Nyala 16: Tweddle, D and Willoughby, N.G. 1977. Further notes on the fishes of Malawi’s game reserves. Nyala 3(2): 4–13.

Günther, A. 1896. Descriptions of two new species of fishes (Mastacembelus and Barbus). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6: 397

IUCN. 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 May 2006.

Oliver, M.K. and McKaye, K.R. 1982. Floating islands: a means of fish dispersal in Lake Malawi, Africa. Copeia 4: 748–754.

Skelton P.H. 1993. A Complete Guide of the Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers (Pty), Ltd, Harare.

Tweddle, D 1993. River fishes of Lake Malawi catchment area. Part 1: Fishes of intermittent drainages. Nyala 16(2): 55–72.

Tweddle, D. 1996. Fish survey of Nkhotakota wildlife reserve. A report to the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on behalf of the Wildlife Society of Malawi. In: JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology. Investigational report. No. 53.

Tweddle, D. and Skelton, P. 1993. River fishes of Lake Malawi catchment area. Nyala 16:

Tweddle, D and Willoughby, N.G. 1977. Further notes on the fishes of Malawi’s game reserves. Nyala 3(2): 4–13.

Citation:	Kazembe, J. & Vreven, E. 2006. Mastacembelus shiranus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2012.
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