Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T11:06:55.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ichthyogeography of the Guinea–Congo rain forest, West Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Gordon McGregor Reid
Gordon McGregor Reid
Affiliation:
North of England Zoological Society, Upton, Chester, CH2 1LH, UK
Get access

Synopsis

Ichthyogeography is the section of biogeography which seeks to interpret fish biodiversity in terms of present and past distributions and abundance. It can also have practical applications in fisheries management and conservation. There are thought to be more than one thousand species of fish in the 40 or so major rivers of the Guinea–Congo rain forest region, with correspondingly high levels of endemicity. In the Congo or Zaire river basin alone, the proportion of endemic fish species may exceed 80% (from a total of >690), but many more taxonomic and distributional data remain to be gathered.

Unlike terrestrial vertebrates, the diverse freshwater fishes of Guinea–Congo evidently have distributions which are closely confined by hydrography. Hence, fish distributions may be of particular help in corroborating or refuting postulated geological events, patterns and processes and in explaining associated aspects of rainforest evolution. From the 19th century until now, the ichthyogeography of Guinea–Congo has been diagnosed largely in terms of presumed post-Miocene geological sequences of fish taxa and their past and recent dispersal in relation to particular hydrological conditions: mainly riverine volume discharge, salinity and temperature. From this, the fish fauna is, by convention, divided into ‘provinces’ established on endemism, palaeogeography and supposed physical or ecological barriers to dispersal. However, in this paper it is argued that the traditional ichthyogeographical accounts which highlight endemism and dispersal are generally flawed. It is argued here that historical patterns of fish distribution can only be fully understood if phyletic (cladistic) data are taken into consideration. While Upper and Lower Guinea and the Zaïre basin may be defined in part on the basis of endemism there is a lack of taxonomic and distributional evidence to show that Guinea–Congo is itself a cohesive ichthyogeographical unit.

There is clearly a need for comparisons with fish distributions outside the rain forest zone of Guinea–Congo. African inter-provincial, trans-continental and inter-continental comparisons reveal distribution patterns which may relate more to pre-Miocene rather than post-Miocene geology or present-day rain forest ecology. Continental drift, notably between Africa and South America, probably led to the separation 85 million years ago of previously united fish populations. This may account for recent higher-level phyletic correspondences between the separate rain forest fish faunas of Africa and the neotropics.

Last, the so-called ‘marine intrusive’ fishes – which are normally excluded from zoogeographical consideration – merit a careful re-evaluation. While they may be regarded as an inconvenience in developing scientific hypotheses, such intrusives can comprise a remarkable 30% or more of the riverine fish fauna in Guinea–Congo. It seems that the widely accepted ecological divisions between marine and ‘primary freshwater’ fishes are not as clear-cut as has been supposed. In addition, zoogeographically critical marine, trans-Atlantic, phyletic relationships apparently exist. These are probably best interpreted by using area cladograms in the context of ocean basin development, rather than by referring solely to marine fish dispersal and the traditional continental and provincial ichthyogeography of Guinea–Congo.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 104: Essays on the Ecology of the Guinea-Congo Rain Forest , 1996 , pp. 285 - 312
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anon. 1992. New protected areas in Zaire. Species 18, 17.Google Scholar
Banister, K. E. 1986. Fish of the Zaire system. In Davies, B.R., & Walker, K.F., (Eds) The ecology of river systems, pp. 215–24. Dordecht: Dr W., Junk.Google Scholar
Beadle, L. C. 1974. The inland waters of tropical Africa. An introduction to tropical limnology. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Berra, T. M. 1981. An atlas of distribution of the freshwater fish families of the world. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Boeseman, M. 1963. An annotated list of fishes from the Niger Delta. Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden 61, 3–48.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1905. The distribution of African freshwater fishes. Report of the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (South Africa) 75, 412–32.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1909. Catalogue of the freshwater fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History) 1, London.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1911. Catalogue of the freshwater fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History) 2, London.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1915. Catalogue of the freshwater fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History) 3, London.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1916. Catalogue of the freshwater fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History) 4, London.Google Scholar
Boulenger, G. A. 1920. Poissons recueillis au Congo Beige par l'expedition du Dr. C. Christy. Annales au Musée Royale du Congo Beige, Zoologiques (ser. 1) 2 (4), pp. 39.Google Scholar
Brossett, A. 1982. Le peuplement des Cyprinodontes du bassin de l'Ivindon, Gabon. Revue Ecologique 36, 233–92.Google Scholar
Cavender, T. M. 1991. The fossil record of the Cyprinidae. In Winfield, I.J., & Nelson, J.S., (Eds) Cyprinid fishes. Systematics, biology and exploitation pp. 34–54. Fish and fisheries series No. 3. London: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colbert, E. H. 1974. Wandering lands and animals. Chicago: W. H., Freeman.Google Scholar
Croizat, L. 1958. Panbiogeography, or an introductory synthesis of zoogeography, phytogeography and geology. Caracas: Published by the author.Google Scholar
Daget, J. 1984 Contribution a la faune du Cameroun. Poissons des fleuves côtiers. Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (4) 6, 177–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daget, J., Gosse, J. P., & Thys van den Audenaerde, D. F. E., (Eds) 1984. Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa CLOFFA 1. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Daget, J., Gosse, J. P., & Thys van den Audenaerde, D. F. E., (Eds) 1986. Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa CLOFFA 2. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Daget, J., Gosse, J. P., & Thys van den Audenaerde, D. F. E., (Eds) 1986. Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa CLOFFA 3. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Daget, J., Gosse, J. P., & Thys van den Audenaerde, D. F. E., (Eds) 1991. Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa CLOFFA 4. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Daget, J., & Iltis, A. 1965. Poissons de Côte d'Ivoire (eaux douces et sâumatres). Mémoires de l'Institut Francais d'Afrique Noire (Ifan-Dakar) 74, 1–385.Google Scholar
Darlington, P. J. 1957. Zoogeography: the geographical distribution of animals. New York: John Wiley & Sons. (Reprinted, 1982, Malabar, Florida: Robert E., Krieger.)Google Scholar
Darteville, E., & Casier, E., (1943–1959). Les poissons fossiles du Bas–Congo et des régions voisines. Annales du Musee Royale du Congo Belge(Paleontol. Sér. 3): 1 Histoire de la découverte gisements de poissons fossiles. Description systematique, Elasmobranchii; 2 Description systématique, Dipneusti – Neopterygii; 3 ‘Geographical and stratigraphical distributions, palaeobiogeographical relationships of the fauna; text figures, bibliography, addenda and indices.’Google Scholar
de Beaufort, L. F. 1951. Zoogeography of the land and inland waters. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.Google Scholar
Ekman, S. 1953. Zoogeography of the sea. London: Sidgewick & Jackson.Google Scholar
FAO 1990a. FAO yearbook of fishery statistics. Commodities 71, 1–395.Google Scholar
FAO 1990b. Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa 1. CIFA Technical paper No. 18.1, 1–411.Google Scholar
FAO 1990c. Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa 2. CIFA Technical paper No. 18.2, 1–240.Google Scholar
Forbarth, P. 1978. The river Congo. The discovery, exploration and exploitation of the world's most dramatic river. London: Seeker & Warburg.Google Scholar
Funk, V. A., & Brooks, D. R. 1990. Phylogenetic systematics as the basis of comparative biology. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany No. 73, 1–45.Google Scholar
Gadow, H. 1913. The wanderings of animals. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Greenwood, P. H. 1983. The zoogeography of African freshwater fishes: bioaccountancy or biogeography. In Sims, R.W., Price, J.H., & Whalley, P.E., (Eds) Evolution Time and Space: The Emergence of the Biosphere, Systematics Association Special Volume 23, 180–99. London & New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Günther, A. 1864. Catalogue of the fishes of the British Museum, 5. London: The Trustees.Google Scholar
Günther, A. 1866. Catalogue of the fishes of the British Museum, 6. London: The Trustees.Google Scholar
Günther, A., 1868. Catalogue of the fishes of the British Museum, 7. London: The Trustees.Google Scholar
Günther, A., 1870. Catalogue of the fishes of the British Museum, 8. London: The Trustees.Google Scholar
Günther, A. C. 1880. An introduction to the study of fishes. Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black.Google Scholar
Harrison Church, R. J., Clarke, J. I., Clarke, P. J., & Henderson, H. J. 1967. Africa and the islands. London: Longmans.Google Scholar
Howell, F. C., & Bourlière, F., 1963. African ecology and human evolution. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Howes, G. J. 1984. A review of the anatomy, taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the African neoboline cyprinid fishes. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Zoology series) 47, 151–85.Google Scholar
Howes, G., 1991. Systematics and biogeography, an overview. In Winfield, I.J., & Nelson, J.S., (Eds) Cyprinid fishes. Systematics, biology and exploitation, pp. 1–33. Fish and fisheries series No. 3. London: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Howes, G. J., & Teugels, G. G. 1989. New bariliin cyprinid fishes from West Africa, with a consideration of their biogeography. Journal of Natural History 23, 873–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphries, C., & Parenti, L. R. 1986. Cladistic biogeography Oxford University Press Monographs on Biogeography No. 2.Google Scholar
Hugueny, B. 1989. West African rivers as biogeographic islands: species richness of fish communitites. Oecologia 79, 236–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lévêque, C., Paugy, D., & Teugels, G. G., (Eds). 1990a. Faune des Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres d'Afrique de l'Ouest 1, 1–384. Collection Faune tropicale No. 28. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Lévêque, C., Paugy, D., & Teugels, G. G., & Romand, R. 1990b. Inventaire taxonomique et distribution des poissons d'eau douce des bassins cotiers de Guinée et de Guinée Bissau. Revue Hydrobiologique tropicale 22, 107–27.Google Scholar
Lévêque, C., Paugy, D., & Teugels, G. G. 1991. Annotated check-list of the freshwater fishes of the NiloSudan river basins in Africa. Revue Hydrobiologique tropicale 24, 131–54.Google Scholar
Lévêque, C., Paugy, D., & Teugels, G. G., (Eds). 1992. Faune des Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres d'Afrique de l'Ouest 2, 385–902. Collection Faune tropicale No. 28. Tervuren: MRAC & Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Livingstone, D. A., Rowland, M., & Bailey, P. E. 1982. On the size of African riverine fish faunas. American Zoologist 22, 361–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe-McConnell, R. H. 1987. Ecological studies in tropical fish communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe-McConnell, R. H. 1988. Broad characteristics of the ichthyofauna. In Lévêque, C., Bruton, M.N., & Ssentongo, G.W., (Eds) Biologie et écologie des poissons d'eau douce Africains, pp. 93–110. Collection Travaux et Documents No. 216. Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Maley, J. 1987. Fragmentation de la foret dense humide africaine et extension des biotopes montagnards au Quaternaire récent: nouvelles données polliniques et chronologiques. Implications paléoclimatiques et biogéographiques. In: Palaeoecology of Africa and the surrounding islands 18, pp. 307–34. Rotterdam: AA Balkema & Brookfield.Google Scholar
Maisey, J. G., (Ed.) 1991. Santana fossils: an illustrated atlas, pp. 4–56. New York: TFH Publications.Google Scholar
Mayr, E., & O'Hara, R. J. 1986. The biogeographic evidences supporting the pleistocene forest refuge hypothesis. Evolution 40, 55–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, P. J., & Smith, R. McK. 1989. The West African species of Bathygobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) and their affinities. Journal of Zoology, London 218, 277–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tianpei, Mo. 1991. Anatomy and systematics of Bagridae (Teleostei). Thesis Zoologicae, 17. Koenigstein: Koelpz Scientific Books.Google Scholar
Murray, A. 1854/1855. Remarks on the natural history of electric fishes, with the description of a new species of Malapterurus from the Old Calabar river, West Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh 2, 35–53.Google Scholar
Murray, A. 1862. On the geographical relations of the Coleoptera of Old Calabar. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 23, 449–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, A. A., & Giller, P. S., (Eds) 1988. Analytical biogeography: an integrated approach to the study of animal and plant distributions. London: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, G. S. 1949. Salt-tolerance of freshwater fish groups in relation to zoogeographical problems. Bijdragen Tot de Dierkunde 28, 315–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichols, J. T., & Griscom, L. 1917. Fresh water fishes of the Congo basin obtained by the American Museum Congo expedition, 1909–1915. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 37 (25), 653–756.Google Scholar
Parenti, L. R. 1981. A phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of cyprinodontiform fishes (Teleostei, Atherinomorpha). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 168 (4), 335–557.Google Scholar
Parenti, L. R. 1990. Sociology and biogeography: a reply to Grehan. Journal of Biogeography 17, 691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parenti, L. R. 1991. Ocean basins and the biogeography of freshwater fishes. Australian Systematic Botany 44, 137–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petri, S. 1987. Cretaceous paleogeographic maps of Brazil. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 59, 117–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pellegrin, J. 1912. Les poissons d'eau douce d'Afrique et leur distribution géographique. Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France, Paris 25, 63–83.Google Scholar
Pledge, H. T. 1966. Science since 1500. A short history of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Poll, M. 1963. Zoogéographie ichthyologique du cours supérieur du Lualaba. Publications de l'Université d'Elisabethville 6, 95–106.Google Scholar
Poll, M. 1973. Nombre et distribution géographique des poissons d'eau douce africains. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 3e sér (150) Ecologie generale 6, 113–28.Google Scholar
Poll, M., & Gosse, J. P. 1963. Contribution à l'étude systématique de la faune ichthyologique du Congo central. Annales du Musée de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren (Série Sciences Zoologiques) 116, 41–101.Google Scholar
Popoff, M. 1988. Du Gondwana à l'Atlantique sud: les connexions du fossé de las Bénoué avec les bassins du Nord-Est brésilien jusqu'a l'overture du golfe de Guinée au Crétacé inférieur. In Sougy, J., & Rodgers, J., (Ed.) The West African Connection. Journal of African Earth Sciences (Special Publication) 7(2), 409–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Regan, C. T. 1911. The freshwater fishes of the British Isles. London: Methuen & Co.Google Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1982. The form, function and phylogenetic significance of the vomero-palatine organ in cyprinid fishes. Journal of Natural History 16, 497–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1985. A revision of African species of Labeo (Pisces, Cyprinidae) and a redefinition of the genus. Theses Zoologicae 6. Braunschweig: J. Cramer.Google Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1989. The Korup project. The living waters of Korup Rainforest. W.W.F. Report No. 3206/A8:1, 1–72.Google Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1990. Threatened fishes of Barombi Mbo: a crater lake in Cameroon. Journal of Fish Biology 37 (A), 209–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1991. Threatened rainforest cichlids of Lower Guinea, West Africa – a case for conservation. In Proceedings of the Fifth European Congress ‘Biology of Cichlids’, State University of Antwerp, January 1990, Nelissen, M. J. H., (Ed.) Annales Musee Royale de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren 263, 109–19.Google Scholar
Reid, G. McG. 1994. The conservation of West African fresh and brackish water fish and fisheries. Aquatic Survival 3 (September, 3) 1, 6–9.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. R. 1972. Ecology of fishes in the Amazon and Congo basins. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 143, 117–47.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. R. 1975. Geographical distribution of African freshwater fishes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 57, 249–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, T. R., & Kullander, S. O. 1994. Endemic cichlid fishes of the Fwa River, Zaire; systematics and ecology. Ichthyological Explorations in Freshwaters 5, 97–154.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. R., & Stewart, D. J. 1976. An ecological and systematic survey of fishes in the rapids of the lower Zaire or Congo river. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 147, 239–317.Google Scholar
Roman, B. 1971. Peces de Rio Muni Guinea Ecuatorial (Aguas dukes y salobres). Spain: Fundacion la Salle de Ciencias Naturales.Google Scholar
Rosen, D. E. 1978. Vicariant patterns and historical explanation in biogeography. Systematic Zoology 27, 159–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayer, J. A., Harcourt, C. S., & Collins, N. M., (Eds) 1992. The conservation atlas of tropical forests. Africa. Cambridge: World Conservation Monitoring Centre.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaal, S. 1984. Oberkretazische Osteichthyes (Knochenfische) aus dem Bereich von Bahariya und Kharga, Ägypten, und ihre Aussagen zur Palökologie und Stratigraphie. Berliner geowiss. Abh. (A) 53 (79S).Google Scholar
Schopf, T. J. M., Fisher, J. B., & Smith, C. A. F. 1978. Is the marine latitudinal diversity gradient merely another example of the species area curve? In Battaglia, B., & Beardmore, J., (Eds) Marine organisms: genetics, ecology and evolution, pp. 365–85. New York and London: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Seret, B. 1986. Poissons de mer de l'Ouest Africain Tropical (2nd edn). Initiations-Documentations Techniques, ORSTOM, Paris No. 49.Google Scholar
Skelton, P. 1988. The distribution of African freshwater fishes. In Lévêque, C., Bruton, M. N., & Ssentongo, G. W., (Eds) Biologie et écologie des poissons d'eau douce Africains, 65–91. Collection Travaux et Documents No. 216. Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Smith, J. A. 1873. Notice of new fishes from West Africa: (1) Ophiocephalus obscurus Günther (2) Synodontis Robbianus, nov. spec. mihi. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 8, 89–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiassny, M. L. J., Schliewen, U. K., & Dominey, W. J. 1992. A new species flock of cichlid fishes from Lake Bermin, Cameroon, with a description of eight new species of Tilapia (Labroidei: Cichlidae). Ichthyological Explorations in Freshwaters 3, 311–46.Google Scholar
Szatmari, P., Francolin, J. B., Zanotto, O., & Wolff, S. 1987. Evolucao tectônica da margem equatorial Brasiliera. Revista Brasiliera Geochronologica 17, 180–88.Google Scholar
Tarling, D. H., & Tarling, M. P. 1974. Continental drift. Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Teugels, G. G., Reid, G. McG. & King, R. P. 1992. Fishes of the Cross river basin (Cameroon–Nigeria): taxonomy, zoogeography, ecology and conservation. Annales du Musée de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren (Série Sciences Zoologiques) 266, 1–132.Google Scholar
Teugels, G. G., Snoeks, J., De Vos, L., & Diakanou-Matongo, J. C. 1991. Les poissons du bassin inférieur du Kouilou (Congo). Tauraco Research Report, No. 4, 109–39.Google Scholar
Thambyahpillay, G. G. R. 1983. Hydrogeography of Lake Chad and environs: contemporary, historical and palaeoclimatic. Annals of the Borno Institute 1983 105–145.Google Scholar
Thys van den Audenaerde, D. F. E. 1967. The freshwater fishes of Fernando Poo. Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België 29(100), 1–167.Google Scholar
Trewavas, E., Green, J., & Corbet, S. A. 1972. Ecological studies on crater lakes in West Cameroon. Fishes of Barombi Mbo. Journal of the Zoological Society of London 167, 41–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vari, R. P. 1979. Anatomy, relationships and classification of the families Citharinidae and Distichodontidae. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Zoology Series) 36, 261–344.Google Scholar
Vari, R. P., & Weitzman, S. H. 1990. A review of the phylogenetic biogeography of the freshwater fishes of South America. In Peters, G., & Hutterer, R., (Eds) Vertebrates in the tropics, pp. 381–93. Bonn: Museum Alexander Koenig.Google Scholar
Vermeij, G. J. 1980. Biogeography and adaptation: patterns of marine life. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Vivien, J. 1991. Faune du Cameroun. Guide des mammiferes et poissons. Paris: GICAM & Cameroon: Ministère de la Coopération et du Développement.Google Scholar
Welcomme, R. L. 1985. River fisheries. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 262.Google Scholar
Welcomme, R. L. 1988. International introductions of inland aquatic species. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 294.Google Scholar
Welcomme, R. L., & Merona, B. 1988. Fish communities of rivers. In Lévêque, C., Bruton, M. N., & Ssentongo, G. W., (Eds) Biologie et écologie des poissons d'eau douce Africains, pp. 251–276. Collection Travaux et Documents No. 216. Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa. Paris: UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO.Google Scholar
Wiley, E. O. 1988. Vicariance biogeography. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19, 513–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar