Taxonomic diversity, distribution, and ecology of the freshwater fishes of the Zambezian Lowveld Ecoregion in southern Africa: A systematic review.

Autor: Ntokoane T; National Research Foundation, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa.; Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa., Vreven EJWMN; National Research Foundation, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa.; Section of Vertebrates, Ichthyology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.; Department of Biology, Research group of Fish Diversity and Conservation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Bragança PHN; National Research Foundation, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa.; Department of Ichthyology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA., Kadye WT; National Research Foundation, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa.; Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa., Chakona A; National Research Foundation, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, South Africa.; Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of fish biology [J Fish Biol] 2024 Oct 09. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 09.
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15934
Abstrakt: The Zambezian Lowveld Ecoregion (ZLE) is one of the 22 freshwater ecoregions covering southern Africa. This ecoregion covers ~520,418 km 2 and extends from south of the Zambezi Delta in the north to the uMngeni River basin in the south. This study aimed to compile a comprehensive synthesis of the available information on the diversity and distribution of freshwater fishes in this ecoregion based on natural history collection holdings by reviewing the published scientific literature. In total, 105 native species belonging to 39 genera and 17 families were recorded from the ZLE. An important proportion, 20 (19%), of the species are considered to be narrow-range endemics. Nevertheless, the majority of them (81%) are considered to have broad geographic ranges, with some even extending into adjacent ecoregions. However, recent and ongoing studies indicate that the current taxonomy often underestimates the species diversity and therefore overestimates the distribution ranges of the latter group of freshwater fishes concerned. The present synthesis brings to the fore existing knowledge gaps in species diversity and distribution ranges of freshwater fishes of this ecoregion and highlights the need for the use of integrative approaches to address the prevailing taxonomic conflicts.
(© 2024 Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: