Movement and habitat use by the marbled lungfish Protopterus aethiopicus Heckel 1851 in Lake Baringo, Kenya

Abstract

The marbled lungfish, Protopterus aethiopicus, a recent introduction into Lake Baringo, Kenya is now an important commercial species there. Because little is known about its behaviour, we used ultrasonic telemetry to investigate its movements and use of habitat as part of a broader biological study. Twelve marbled lungfish were implanted with ultrasonic tags and tracked for variable periods between September 2001 and 2002. Two individuals were tracked for most of the study period. Daily movement ranged from little or none to 5.2 km. Mean hourly rates of movement for three fish located twice a day (morning and late afternoon) over several days suggested that individuals were active throughout the diel period. Maximum lake depth was about 3 m and fish utilized all depths greater than 1 m. Six home ranges described for four lungfish varied in size from 5.8 to 19.8 km 2 and were occupied for between 2 and 4.5 months. Use of habitat and the movement of marbled lungfish in Lake Baringo appeared to be influenced more by biotic than abiotic factors. Hydrobiologia (2005) 537: 229-238 Ó Springer 2005

Aspects of the biology of Labeo cylindricus (Pisces: cyprinidae) in Lake Baringo, Kenya

“…The shallow equatorial freshwater lake is located in the eastern arm of the Rift Valley, Kenya, between 0°32′ and 0°45′N, 36° 00′ and 36° 10′E, at an altitude of 975 m above sea level (Beadle 1932; Ssentongo 1974). It covers a surface area of approximately 137 km 2 (Mlewa et al. 2005).…”

Surgical implantation of radio tags in three eel species (Anguilla spp.) in South Africa

“…Telemetry ( sensu Cooke et al ., ; acoustic, VHF, UHF, GPS or passive transponders) is an effective method for gathering data on habitat use, movement and behaviour of fishes (Cooke et al ., ). While its use has been fairly limited in African freshwaters, telemetry has been successfully used on several species of siluriform (Hocutt, ; Kadye & Booth, ), cichlid (Thorstad et al ., ), cyprinid (Burnett et al ., ), alestid (Baras et al ., ; Økland et al ., ) and protopterid (Mlewa et al ., ) fishes. To date there have been no telemetry studies on freshwater eels ( Anguilla spp.)…”

“…Mlewa et al . () were the only researchers to observe live recapture of fishes (Lungfish, Protopterus spp.) and complete healing with no infection at the incision site, and achieved a recapture rate of 8%.…”

Marbled lungfish growth rates in Lake Baringo, Kenya, estimated by mark‐recapture

“…Protopterus aethiopicus is the largest of the extant lungfishes, with adult males reaching total lengths ( L T ) >200 cm (Greenwood, 1986), and it is often an important component of local lake fisheries (Smith, 1931). Protopterus aethiopicus was introduced into Lake Baringo (area 137 km 2 ; 0° 32′ N; 36° 00′ E; Ssentongo, 1974) in the Rift Valley of western Kenya in 1975 and is now an established species (Shafland & Lewis, 1984) exploited in an artisanal longline fishery (Mlewa et al ., 2005). The population level effects of fishing on P. aethiopicus are largely unknown, but declines have been documented in some exploited populations, including those in Lake Victoria (Goudswaard et al ., 2002) and Lake Baringo where a recent fishing ban (Mlewa, 2003) has had a significant effect on the local economy.…”