Mastacembelus cunningtoni
| Kingdom |
Phylum |
Class |
Order |
Family |
| ANIMALIA |
CHORDATA |
ACTINOPTERYGII |
SYNBRANCHIFORMES |
MASTACEMBELIDAE |
| Scientific Name: |
Mastacembelus cunningtoni |
| Species Authority: |
Boulenger, 1906 |
| Taxonomic Notes: |
Vreven (accepted) placed the African genera Caecomastacembelus and Aethiomastacembelus in synonymy with Mastacembelus. |
Assessment Information
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| Red List Category & Criteria: |
Least Concern
ver 3.1
|
| Year Assessed: |
2006 |
| Assessor/s |
Bigirimana, C. & Vreven, E. |
| Evaluator/s: |
Snoeks, J. (Freshwater Fish Red List Authority) & Darwall, W. (Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Programme) |
Justification:
Widespread species, distributed throughout Lake Tanganika and particularly common around the Rusizi delta. No widespread major threats known.
|
Geographic Range
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| Range Description: |
Endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Mastacembelus cunningtoni is especially plentiful around the Rusizi river delta.
|
| Countries: |
Native:
Burundi; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Tanzania, United Republic of; Zambia
|
Population
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| Population: |
A common species (Poll 1953), especially plentiful around the Ruzizi delta (Brichard 1989).
|
| Population Trend: |
Unknown
|
Habitat and Ecology
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| Habitat and Ecology: |
Inhabits the littoral zones in lake Tanganyika with rocky, sandy or muddy substrates. Diet: omnivorous, the diet includes insects, molluscs and fish. Spawning has not been observed, but it is thought to spawn in rivers. Reproduction seems to involve large congregations of adults. Pearce (1985b) reports huge spawning schools of Mastacembelus cunningtoni in a deep rocky area of the southeast arm of the lake. This species is caught at greater depth than other mastacembelids (Coulter 1991). Poll (1953) collected specimens from 6 to 100 m depth, nevertheless most of them were collected above 20 m depth and on muddy bottoms. Coulter (1966) collected specimens from 20 to 119 m depth and Lowe-Mc Connell (1975) mentioned the presence of M. cunningtoni down to 50 m. Although found in inshore habitats it is most abundant offshore (Coulter 1991). A typical sand-dweller (Brichard 1989) it is also reported as a benthic species sometimes encountered in swamp habitats (Phiri 1993).
|
| Systems: |
Freshwater |
| Major Threat(s): |
Water pollution, habitat deterioration, and over-exploitation.
|
Conservation Actions
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| Conservation Actions: |
None known.
|
