Quadriacanthus (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae) from Catfishes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Description of a New Species from Heterobranchus longifilis (Teleostei, Clariidae).

Purpose: Studies on monogeneans parasitizing representatives of Siluriformes in Africa remain scarce and fragmentary. In order to contribute to fill this gap, we screened Heterobranchus longifilis from the Lindi River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Methods: Heterobranchus longifilis was purchased from fishermen in DR Congo, province of Tshopo, in Kisangani town, the Lindi River.

Barcoding and traditional health practitioner perspectives are informative to monitor and conserve frogs and reptiles traded for traditional medicine in urban South Africa.

Previous literature suggests that Indigenous cultural practices, specifically traditional medicine, are commonplace among urban communities contrary to the general conception that such practices are restricted to rural societies. We reviewed previous literature for records of herptiles (frog and reptile species) sold by traditional health practitioners in urban South Africa, then used visual confirmation surveys, DNA barcoding and folk taxonomy to identify the herptile species that were on sale. Additionally, we interviewed 11 IsiZulu and SePedi speaking traditional health practitioners to document details of the collection and pricing of herptile specimens along with the practitioners' views of current conservation measures for traditional medicine markets.

Sharing is caring? Barcoding suggests co-introduction of dactylogyrid monogeneans with Nile tilapia and transfer towards native tilapias in sub-Saharan Africa.

Invasive Nile tilapias negatively impact native tilapia species through hybridisation and competition. However, the co-introduction of parasites with Nile tilapia, and subsequent changes in parasite communities, are scarcely documented. Monogeneans are known pathogens of cultured Nile tilapia, although little is known about their fate once Nile tilapias establish in new ecosystems.

Monogeneans from Catfishes in Lake Tanganyika. II: New Infection Site, New Record, and Additional Details on the Morphology of the Male Copulatory Organ of Prudhoe and Hussey, 1977.

The ichthyofauna of Lake Tanganyika consists of 12 families of fish of which five belong to Siluriformes (catfishes). Studies on Siluriformes and their parasites in this lake are very fragmentary. The present study was carried out to help fill the knowledge gap on the monogeneans infesting the siluriform fishes of Lake Tanganyika in general and, more particularly, .

Co-introduction of Dolicirroplectanum lacustre, a monogenean gill parasite of the invasive Nile perch Lates niloticus: intraspecific diversification and mitonuclear discordance in native versus introduced areas.

The Nile perch (Lates niloticus) is a notorious invasive species. The introductions of Nile perch into several lakes and rivers in the Lake Victoria region led to the impoverishment of trophic food webs, particularly well documented in Lake Victoria. Additionally, its parasites were co-introduced, including Dolicirroplectanum lacustre (Monogenea, Diplectanidae).

Explosive networking: The role of adaptive host radiations and ecological opportunity in a species-rich host-parasite assembly.

Many species-rich ecological communities emerge from adaptive radiation events. Yet the effects of adaptive radiation on community assembly remain poorly understood. Here, we explore the well-documented radiations of African cichlid fishes and their interactions with the flatworm gill parasites Cichlidogyrus spp.

Somewhere I belong: phylogeny and morphological evolution in a species-rich lineage of ectoparasitic flatworms infecting cichlid fishes.

A substantial portion of biodiversity has evolved through adaptive radiation. However, the effects of explosive speciation on species interactions remain poorly understood. Metazoan parasites infecting radiating host lineages could improve our knowledge because of their intimate host relationships.

Population genomics of introduced Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Repeated introductions since colonial times with multiple sources.

During colonial times, Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) was introduced into non-native parts of the Congo Basin (Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC) for the first time. Currently, it is the most farmed cichlid in the DRC, and is present throughout the Congo Basin. Although Nile tilapia has been reported as an invasive species, documentation of historical introductions into this basin and its consequences are scant.

African lates perches (Teleostei, Latidae, Lates): Paraphyly of Nile perch and recent colonization of Lake Tanganyika.

Lates perches of the genus Lates (Latidae) are large piscivorous fishes, with a strikingly disjunct distribution range in coastal areas and estuaries of the Indo-Pacific region and in some large African freshwater systems. Previous phylogenetic hypotheses based on osteological and ontogenetic data suggested paraphyly of the African representatives, or even the small Lake Tanganyika species assemblage, with respect to the remaining Lates species. Based on a multilocus phylogeny, however, we show that extant African lates perches are monophyletic.

The synonymy of Haplochromis pharyngalis and Haplochromis petronius (Cichlidae).

Haplochromis pharyngalis and Haplochromis petronius, two endemic cichlids from the Lake Edward system (Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo), are very similar in general morphology but have been reported to differ in pharyngeal jaw morphology and distribution. This study analysed 51 morphometrics and various qualitative characteristics of 48 specimens from different localities. The morphological traits of both species strongly overlap, and differences in the pharyngeal jaw morphology correspond to a geographic morphocline.

Weak population structure and recent demographic expansion of the monogenean parasite Kapentagyrus spp. infecting clupeid fishes of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.

Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, is the oldest and deepest African Great Lake and harbours one of the most diverse fish assemblages on earth. Two clupeid fishes, Limnothrissa miodon and Stolothrissa tanganicae, constitute a major part of the total fish catch, making them indispensable for local food security. Parasites have been proposed as indicators of stock structure in highly mobile pelagic hosts.

Similar ecology, different morphology: Three new species of oral-mollusc shellers from Lake Edward.

Lake Edward, East Africa, harbours a largely understudied assemblage of haplochromine cichlids that displays a range of adaptions to various specialised trophic niches. In this system, we discovered specimens of Haplochromis with morphologies similar to those of oral-mollusc shellers from Lake Victoria. These morphologies are characterised by short oral jaws with stout teeth that are used either to crush molluscs or to grab the soft bodies of snails and wrench them out of their shells.

Where ichthyofaunal provinces meet: the fish fauna of the Lake Edward system, East Africa.

Based on literature, museum collections and three recent expeditions, an annotated species list of the Lake Edward, East Africa, drainage system is presented, excluding the endemic haplochromines. A total of 34 non-Haplochromis species belonging to 10 families and 21 genera are recorded from the system. Three of these are endemic and two others have been introduced in the region.

First genomic study on Lake Tanganyika sprat Stolothrissa tanganicae: a lack of population structure calls for integrated management of this important fisheries target species.

Background: Clupeid fisheries in Lake Tanganyika (East Africa) provide food for millions of people in one of the world's poorest regions. Due to climate change and overfishing, the clupeid stocks of Lake Tanganyika are declining. We investigate the population structure of the Lake Tanganyika sprat Stolothrissa tanganicae, using for the first time a genomic approach on this species.

DNA barcoding fishes from the Congo and the Lower Guinean provinces: Assembling a reference library for poorly inventoried fauna.

The Congolese and Lower Guinean ichthyological provinces are understudied hotspots of the global fish diversity. Here, we barcoded 741 specimens from the Lower and Middle Congo River and from three major drainage basins of the Lower Guinean ichthyological province, Kouilou-Niari, Nyanga and Ogowe. We identified 194 morphospecies belonging to 82 genera and 25 families.

Delineating species along shifting shorelines: (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from the southern subbasin of Lake Tanganyika.

Background: Species delineation is particularly challenging in taxa with substantial intra-specific variation. In systematic studies of fishes, meristics and linear measurements that describe shape are often used to delineate species. Yet, little is known about the taxonomic value of these two types of morphological characteristics.

Neurogenomic Profiling Reveals Distinct Gene Expression Profiles Between Brain Parts That Are Consistent in Cichlids.

The detection of external and internal cues alters gene expression in the brain which in turn may affect neural networks that underly behavioral responses. Previous studies have shown that gene expression profiles differ between major brain regions within individuals and between species with different morphologies, cognitive abilities and/or behaviors. A detailed description of gene expression in all macroanatomical brain regions and in species with similar morphologies and behaviors is however lacking.

Limited possibilities for prezygotic barriers in the reproductive behaviour of sympatric Ophthalmotilapia species (Teleostei, Cichlidae).

Since prezygotic rather than postzygotic barriers are believed to maintain the diversity of closely related sympatric cichlids, differences in phenotypic traits and reproductive behaviours are likely involved in maintaining species boundaries. Here, we focused on the reproductive behaviour of three Ophthalmotilapia species with distributions that only overlap on a small stretch of the shore line of Lake Tanganyika. Repeated introgression of mitochondrial DNA between these species was previously reported, which suggested they can hybridise.

Reduced host-specificity in a parasite infecting non-littoral Lake Tanganyika cichlids evidenced by intraspecific morphological and genetic diversity.

Lake Tanganyika is well-known for its high species-richness and rapid radiation processes. Its assemblage of cichlid fishes recently gained momentum as a framework to study parasite ecology and evolution. It offers a rare chance to investigate the influence of a deepwater lifestyle in a freshwater fish-parasite system.

Testing the potential of DNA barcoding in vertebrate radiations: the case of the littoral cichlids (Pisces, Perciformes, Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika.

We obtained 398 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I barcodes of 96 morphospecies of Lake Tanganyika (LT) cichlids from the littoral zone. The potential of DNA barcoding in these fishes was tested using both species identification and species delineation methods. The best match (BM) and best close match (BCM) methods were used to evaluate the overall identification success.

Hidden biodiversity in an ancient lake: phylogenetic congruence between Lake Tanganyika tropheine cichlids and their monogenean flatworm parasites.

The stunning diversity of cichlid fishes has greatly enhanced our understanding of speciation and radiation. Little is known about the evolution of cichlid parasites. Parasites are abundant components of biodiversity, whose diversity typically exceeds that of their hosts.

Morphology, molecules, and monogenean parasites: an example of an integrative approach to cichlid biodiversity.

The unparalleled biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika (Africa) has fascinated biologists for over a century; its unique cichlid communities are a preferred model for evolutionary research. Although species delineation is, in most cases, relatively straightforward, higher-order classifications were shown not to agree with monophyletic groups. Here, traditional morphological methods meet their limitations.

Contrasting parasite communities among allopatric colour morphs of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Tropheus.

Background: Adaptation to different ecological environments is thought to drive ecological speciation. This phenomenon culminates in the radiations of cichlid fishes in the African Great Lakes. Multiple characteristic traits of cichlids, targeted by natural or sexual selection, are considered among the driving factors of these radiations.

Biogeographical implications of Zambezian Cichlidogyrus species (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) parasitizing Congolian cichlids.

Fishes normally restricted to inland waters are valuable model systems for historical biogeography, inter alia, because of their limited dispersal abilities and concordance with the distribution patterns of other freshwater taxa (Zogaris et al. 2009). The comparison of fish species assemblages has been the major biogeographical tool for delineating African aquatic ecoregions as the fossil record is often meagre and merely offers complementary information.