Lake Mai-Ndombe

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Lake Mai-Ndombe
Lake Mai-Ndombe NASA.jpg
Seen from space (false color)
Democratic Republic of the Congo relief location map.jpg
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Lake Mai-Ndombe
Location Mai-Ndombe Province, DR Congo
Coordinates 2°00′S18°20′E / 2°S 18.33°E / -2; 18.33
Primary outflows Fimi River
Basin  countries DR Congo
Surface area2,300 km2 (890 sq mi)
Average depth5 m (16 ft)
Max. depth10 m (33 ft)
Lake Mai-Ndombe and the Fimi River, in red Lake Mai-Ndombe and Fimi River DRC.svg
Lake Mai-Ndombe and the Fimi River, in red

Lake Mai-Ndombe (French : Lac Mai-Ndombe) is a large freshwater lake in Mai-Ndombe province in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake is within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, the largest Wetland of International Importance recognized by the Ramsar Convention in the world. [1]

Contents

Location

The lake drains to the south through the Fimi River into the Kwah and Congo Rivers. Known until 1972 as Lake Leopold II (Lac Léopold II) after Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Mai-Ndombe means "black water" in Kikongo. The lake is of irregular shape and ranges in depth from only 5 meters (mean) to 10 meters (maximum). Covering approximately 890 square miles (2,300 square km), it is known to double or triple in size during the rainy season. Its waters are oxygenated throughout their depth and the pH ranges from 4.2 to 5.5. Low, forested shores surround it with dense, humid equatorial rainforest prevailing to the north and a mosaic of forest and savanna to the south.[ citation needed ]

Biodiversity

Surveys have revealed a high biodiversity in and around the lake, with animals such as two species of otters, marsh mongoose, giant otter shrew, numerous waterbirds, crocodiles and turtles. [2]

Mai-Ndombe contains acidic, humic-rich blackwater and in general the fish of this lake have been poorly documented, even compared to other regions in the Congo River basin. [2] Although ecologically similar to Lake Tumba and occasionally directly connected by channels or swamps, there are some significant differences in the fish fauna that inhabits the two lakes, but also many shared species. [2] [3] Initial surveys were performed by George Albert Boulenger more than a century ago and there have been relatively few later studies of the fish fauna in the lake. [2] For example, the first study of its northern part was only conducted in 2002. [4] More than 30 fish species are known, but the actual figure is presumed to be considerably higher. [2] There are five known endemics: the catfish Amphilius opisthophthalmus and the cichlid Hemichromis cerasogaster were scientifically described by Boulenger. [2] The remaining are relatively recent discoveries that only were described in the last few decades: In 1984, a new species of cichlid, Nanochromis transvestitus , named for the fact that it exhibits reverse sexual dichromatism, was scientifically described from the lake. [5] In 2006, another new species of cichlid, Nanochromis wickleri, was described, [4] and in 2008, a new catfish species, Chrysichthys praecox, was documented. [3]

Economic activity

Some of the main concession areas of the logging company Sodefor are to the north and south of Lake Mai-Ndombe. [6] On 28 November 2009, two logging barges sank causing the loss of 73 lives. The boat was not authorised to carry passengers, but was believed to have some 270 people on board at the time. [7]

Lake Mai-Ndombe and the river system is often used for transportation across the country because the land based road system is inadequate. Many passenger ferries carry hundreds of people each day. Many of these boats are old and not maintained. On Saturday, May 25, 2019, a passenger ferry with over 350 passengers sank in high winds. Over 45 passengers were confirmed dead in the first day and over hundred deemed still missing. In response the government said it would ban wooden passenger boats over 5 years old from traversing the lake. [8]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

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The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third largest river in the world by discharge volume, following the Amazon and the Ganges rivers. It is also the world's deepest recorded river, with measured depths of around 220 m (720 ft). The Congo-Lualaba-Chambeshi River system has an overall length of 4,700 km (2,900 mi), which makes it the world's ninth-longest river. The Chambeshi is a tributary of the Lualaba River, and Lualaba is the name of the Congo River upstream of Boyoma Falls, extending for 1,800 km (1,100 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tanganyika</span> Rift lake in east-central Africa

Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all 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 (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania (46%) and DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. It drains into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandundu Province</span> Province in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Bandundu is one of eleven former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It bordered the provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Équateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is also called Bandundu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackwater river</span> Slow-moving, dark-colored river flowing through forested swamps or wetlands

A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial studies, geology, geography, ecology, and biology. Not all dark rivers are blackwater in that technical sense. Some rivers in temperate regions, which drain or flow through areas of dark black loam, are simply black due to the color of the soil; these rivers are black mud rivers. There are also black mud estuaries.

Nanochromis transvestitus is a sexually dimorphic cichlid endemic to Lake Mai-Ndombe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where they live at a depth of around 1 metre (3.3 ft). It feeds on small benthic invertebrates. This species reaches a length of 3.4 centimetres (1.3 in) SL. Unusually for cichlids, it is the female, not the male, that is the most colourful. The female has a vertical black and white banding on her anal and caudual fins, with a bright red abdomen. The male, by contrast, is grayish in colour. Like many cichlids, the male does, however, have longer anal and caudal fins. The fish are egg layers and make a nest in the substrate in which to lay their eggs. This species is particularly threatened by the practice of using mosquito netting to catch fish out of the lake as material with holes that small catches every species of fish in the lake regardless of size. The specific name is a derived from the Latin trans meaning "cross" or "over" and vestitus meaning "clothed", a reference to the reversal of the normal sexual dimorphism in that this species has drabber males and more colourful females.

<i>Lamprologus</i> Genus of fishes

Lamprologus is a genus of fishes from the cichlid family. They are native to Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River Basin in Africa. The type species for this genus is Lamprologus congoensis, a species from the Congo River. The genus is under some revision and may eventually be restricted to these riverine types.

Teleogramma is an African genus of cichlids with five species. These dark and slender fish barely reach 10 cm (4 in) in length and are limited to rapids in the Western Congo River basin in DR Congo/Congo Brazzaville. They are distinctive, with specialized anatomy. They are characterized by elongated heads with tubular nostrils and a lateral line that is not interrupted, as it is in most cichlids.

<i>Nanochromis</i> Genus of fishes

Nanochromis is a genus of small cichlids endemic to the Congo River Basin in Central Africa.

<i>Synodontis</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<i>Serranochromis</i> Genus of fishes

Serranochromis is a genus of relatively large, robust cichlids from freshwater habitats in mainland Southern Africa, ranging as far north as DR Congo and Tanzania, with the highest species richness in the upper Zambezi, Okavango and Congo basins. They are typically known as largemouths or, especially among fishers, breams. Serranochromis are mostly piscivores and they are important in local fisheries.

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The Lukenie River is a river in the central Congo basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Malapterurus beninensis is a species of electric catfish native to the African nations of Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. This species grows to a length of 22 cm (9 in) SL. Its habitat is lowland marshes, rivers, and lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai-Ndombe District</span> Place in Bandundu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mai-Ndombe District was a district of pre-2015 Bandundu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It covered roughly the same area as the colonial-era Lac Léopold II District. In 2015, it was merged with Plateaux District, all in pre-2015 Bandundu Province, to form the new Mai-Ndombe Province.

Chrysichthys depressus is a species of catfish endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it is only found near Boma. It was formerly known as Gnathobagrus depressus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe</span>

Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe is the largest Wetland of International Importance in the world as recognized by the Ramsar Convention. The site covers an area of 65,696 square kilometres (25,365 sq mi) in the region around Lake Tumba in the western Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is more than twice the size of Belgium or Maryland.

Sodefor is a subsidiary of Nordsudtimber of Liechtenstein that undertakes logging operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There has been controversy about the impact of the company on the environment and the local communities,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lac Léopold II District</span> District in Équateur, Belgian Congo

Lac Léopold II District was a district of the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent, but roughly corresponded to the modern Mai-Ndombe Province.

Alestopetersius nigropterus is a species of African tetras found in Lake Mai-Ndombe in the middle Congo River basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This species reaches a length of 6.5 cm (2.6 in).

References

  1. ↑ "Logging concession different periods" (PDF). Institute for Environmental Security. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peck, E. (2013, updated 2015). Mai Ndombe Archived 2017-01-16 at the Wayback Machine . Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 Michael Hardman, Melanie L.J. Stiassny, "A sexually dimorphic species of Chrysichthys (Siluriformes: Claroteidae) from Lac Mai-Ndombe, Democratic Republic of the Congo", Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 175-184. [ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 Ulrich K. Schliewen, Melanie L. J. Stiassny, "A new species of Nanochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Mai Ndombe, central Congo Basin, Democratic Republic of Congo", Zootaxa Vol. 1169, No. 33, Apr. 10, 2006. Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Donald J. Stewart, Tyson R. Roberts, "A New Species of Dwarf Cichilid Fish with Reversed Sexual Dichromatism from Lac Mai-Ndombe, Zaïre", Copeia, Vol. 1984, No. 1, Feb. 23, 1984, pp. 82-86.
  6. ↑ "Carte Illustrative Actions Sociales". SODEFOR. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  7. ↑ BBC News article reporting the boat sinking
  8. ↑ "30 dead, more than 150 missing after boat sinks on Congo lake". CNN . 2019-05-27. Archived from the original on 2019-07-12.
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