Genetic diversity of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) populations in Ethiopia: insights from nuclear DNA microsatellites and implications for conservation.

Background: Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) is among the economically most important freshwater fish species in East Africa, and a major source of protein for local consumption. Human induced translocations of non-native stocks for aquaculture and fisheries have been found as a potential threat to the genetic diversity and integrity of local populations. In the present study, we investigate the genetic structure of O.

New data on (Cyprinidae, Labeoinae) from the Awash River (Ethiopia) with remarks on its relationships to congeners on the Arabian Peninsula.

On the African continent, the genus consists of several species often insufficiently separated from each other by diagnostic characters. Herein, a detailed morphological redescription of from the Awash River drainage is presented, together with additional data on the type specimens of and . Mitochondrial CO1 sequence data are also provided, including the historic paralectotype of , with a comparison to species from Africa and the Middle East.

A new species of (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae, Smiliogastrinae) from the Awash River, Ethiopia, and the re-establishment of .

In the present study, populations of small-sized smiliogastrin barbs with a thickened and serrated last simple dorsal-fin ray distributed in the Main Ethiopian Rift were analysed. An integrated approach combining genetic markers and a variety of morphological methods based on a wide set of characters, including osteology and sensory canals, proved to be very productive for taxonomy in this group of fishes. The results showed that Ethiopian species with a serrated dorsal-fin ray are distant from the true (with as a synonym) and the so-called complex involves several supposedly valid species with two distinct species occurring in the Main Ethiopian Rift area.