Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. The lake is shared among four countries—Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia—with Tanzania (46%) and the DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. It drains via the Lukuga River into the Congo River system, which ultimately discharges at Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo into the Atlantic Ocean.
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika. In 1894, German officer and colonial ruler Gustav Adolf von Götzen was the first European to discover the lake.
Variabilichromis moorii has no common name and is a species of freshwater cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. It is a small ovate bodied fish named for an early collector of fish from the lake, John Edmund Sharrock Moore (1870–1947) who was a cytologist, zoologist and led an expedition to Lake Tanganyika and who discovered this species. Juveniles are usually yellow, and adults are dark brown to black in color. It reaches a total length (TL) of 10.3 centimetres (4.1 in). Currently it is the only member of its genus. V. moorii feeds on algae, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates. It is also found in the aquarium trade.
Synodontis is the largest genus of mochokid catfishes. It is the biggest genus within the 10 genera and 190 different species in the family Mochokidae. Synodontis has over 131 different species within the genus. Synodontis are also known as squeakers, due to their ability to make stridulatory sounds through their pectoral fin spines when handled or disturbed. Synodontis make a sound that sounds like squeaking by rubbing their spines together. They do this when they have been frightened or when they become angry. Synodontis may also squeak when they are taken out of the water. These catfish are small- to medium-sized fish with many species exhibiting attractive spotted markings. Some species are also known for naturally swimming belly-up, earning the name upside-down catfish. Some of these species are Synodontis contractus and Synodontis nigriventris. While some of these species are known to swim upside down, another species, Synodontis multipunctatus, is a brood parasitic cuckoo catfish,there are two other species Synodontis petricola and Synodontis grandiops are also called brood parasitic cuckoo catfish.
Neolamprologus leleupi is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it occurs throughout the lake. It is a recess-dweller, inhabiting cracks and crevices. It feeds on invertebrates living in the rich biocover of the substrate. This species reaches a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) TL. The color of this fish ranges from bright yellow to deep brown. Both color variations exist at each location where this species is found. This relatively small cichlid is a substrate spawner. It is easily confused with the very similar N. longior a fish also endemic to Lake Tanganyika. The specific name honours the Belgian entomologist Narcisse Leleup (1912-2001), who collected the type.
The Lake Tanganyika sardine is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Dorosomatidae which was endemic to Lake Tanganyika but which has now been introduced to other lakes in Africa as a food source. It is one of two species within the genus Limnothrissa, the other being the Lake Mweru endemic, L. strappersi. This species and the Lake Tanganyika sprat are known collectively as kapenta.
Anceya is a genus of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Paludomidae.
Bridouxia is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Paludomidae.
Neothauma is a genus of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the subfamily Bellamyinae of the family Viviparidae.
Pseudospatha tanganyicensis a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is the only species in the genus Pseudospatha.
Clinothelphusa kakoota is a species of crab in the family Gecarcinucidae, which is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss, and is listed as a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List. It is known from a single site with an area of less than 100 km2 (39 sq mi). Its nearest relatives are another Sri Lankan endemic genus of crabs, Ceylonthelphusa.
Platythelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs endemic to Lake Tanganyika. It has been placed in a number of families, including a monotypic family, Platythelphusidae, as well as Potamidae and its current position in the Potamonautidae, and has also been treated as a subgenus of Potamonautes. It forms a monophyletic group, possibly nested within the genus Potamonautes, which would therefore be paraphyletic. The genus is the only evolutionary radiation of crabs to have occurred in a freshwater lake, and it occurred recently, probably since the Pliocene. This parallels the better known radiation of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika. Only one other species of freshwater crab is found in Lake Tanganyika, Potamonautes platynotus.
Mastacembelus ellipsifer is a species of spiny eel that is endemic to Lake Tanganyika in Africa and sometimes kept in aquariums. Although sometimes called the Tanganyikan spiny eel, it is only one of fifteen spiny eel species in the Tanganyikan basin.
Deckenia is a genus of freshwater crabs from East Africa, in the family Potamonautidae, or sometimes in a family of its own, Deckeniidae. The genus was named by Hilgendorf after Karl Klaus von der Decken who collected the first examples during his expeditions to Africa. Both species live in swamps from Eyl in Somalia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, both in coastal areas and further inland. A third species, Deckenia alluaudi, lives in the Seychelles, and has been transferred to a separate genus, Seychellum.
Johora singaporensis, the Singapore stream crab or Singapore freshwater crab, is a critically endangered species of freshwater crab endemic to Singapore. It grows to a size of 30 millimetres (1.2 in) wide.
Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which release thousands of planktonic larvae. This limits the dispersal abilities of freshwater crabs, so they tend to be endemic to small areas. As a result, a large proportion are threatened with extinction.
Seychellum alluaudi is a species of freshwater crab endemic to the Seychelles, and the only true freshwater crab in that country. It lives in rainforest streams on the archipelago's granitic high islands. Although it may be abundant, little is known about its biology. If its habitat were to decline in quality, S. alluaudi might become endangered, but it is currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Syntripsa flavichela is a species of freshwater crab found in Lake Towuti and Lake Mahalona on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
