Barbus zanzibaricus

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	CYPRINIFORMES	CYPRINIDAE

Scientific Name:	Barbus zanzibaricus
Species Authority:	Peters, 1868
Common Name/s: English – Zanzibar Barb
Synonym/s:	Barbus altus Pfeffer, 1905 Barbus argyrotaenia Boulenger, 1912 Barbus kiperegensis Steindacher, 1914 Barbus pfefferi Boulenger, 1905 Barbus zanzibaricus Peters 1868
Taxonomic Notes:	This species represents a polymorphic group which needs revision. The genus Barbus (Cyprinidae) is restricted to a small number of species mainly inhabiting the European ichthyographic region including northeast Africa. Most of the African species which are currently included in the genus, taxonomically do not appear to be closely related to the genus Barbus sensu strictu. However, no attempts have yet been made at an adequate nomenclature of the African forms. We therefore follow Berrebi et al. (1996) and use in this assessment the term ‘Barbus’ for the cyprinid fish species which were previously considered as Barbus (Seegers et al., unpublished).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern     ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	Bills, R., Engelbrecht, J., Getahun, A. & Vreven, E.
Reviewer/s:	Snoeks, J., Tweddle, D., Getahun, A., Lalèyè, P., Paugy, D., Zaiss, R., Fishar, M.R.A & Brooks, E.
Justification: This species has a wide distribution, with no known major widespread threats. It is therefore listed as Least Concern. Despite localised threats, it has also been assessed regionally as Least Concern for east, northeast and southern Africa due to its wide distribution.
History:	2006 – Least Concern (IUCN 2006)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Barbus zanzibaricus is found along the east coast of Africa, from Somalia south to Mozambique. Eastern Africa: This species occurs in small numbers in coastal rivers, including Sabaki and Lower Tana, northern Ewaso Nyiro system (Seegers et al. 2003) and Lake Chiuta (Tweddle 1983). It is also present in Lake Chilwa streams. Northeast Africa:It is present in the River Juba, Somalia Southern Africa: This species is found in the Rovuma River system on the Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzanian border.
Countries:	Native: Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Somalia; Tanzania, United Republic of
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It is reasonably common where encountered.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species inhabits main river and stream channels and also in pools in the river beds of seasonal streams.
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):

Potentially overfishing could be a threat but this has been reported to have no commercial importance in Lake Chiuta, Malawi (Tweddle 1983). Fishing of isolated pools by rural fishermen was identified as a problem in the Niassa Reserve by Bills (2003). Pools are easily fished out and they are' innocula' for the main river system when flows return. In some instances pools are poisoned which is an undesirable and illegal activity.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:

Management of fisheries is needed at least within protected areas such as the Niassa Reserve. More research is needed into this species taxonomy, as well as population range and numbers, biology and ecology, and monitoring of populations.

Bibliography [top]

Pan-Africa freshwater assessment references. Currently, full citations for references used in the Pan-Africa biodiversity assessments are unavailable on the Red List web site. These will be added to the site in 2011. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes. IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.3). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 2 September 2010).