Barbus altianalis

"Barbus procatopus" redirects here. This name was also applied to Labeobarbus intermedius in error.
Barbus altianalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Barbus (but see text)
Species: B. altianalis
Binomial name
Barbus altianalis
Boulenger, 1900
Synonyms

Many, see text

The ripon barbel (Barbus altianalis) is an East African ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. A huge barb, its maximum recorded total length is 90 cm (35 in).[1]

Taxonomy

Like other African "barbs", placement of this species in Barbus – the genus of the typical barbels and relatives – is provisional. Though called "barbel", it is probably not closely enough related to the typical barbels – the core group of Barbus – to be considered congeneric. Several supposedly distinct species have been merged into B. altianalis, and numerous subspecies have been proposed. None of these are deemed valid nowadays, at least until a thorough restudy of the species. On the other hand, B. longifilis, B. paucisquamatus and B. somereni were once considered subspecies of B: altianalis, the second as sspp. lobogenysoides and paucisquamata and the third as ssp. urundensis.[2]

Significant junior synonyms of B. altianalis are:

B. procatopus was described from the Amala River, which was mistakenly believed to be to the east of Lake Baringo. The Ripon Barbel does not occur there, and the taxon was thus thought to refer to Labeobarbus intermedius. But the Amala is actually a tributary of the Mara River, where B. altianalis is found, and B. procatopus is thus a junior synonym of it.[1]

Distribution and ecology

The Ripon Barbel inhabits Lake Victoria and its drainage basin and surrounding areas in the East African Rift, including Lake Edward, George, Kyoga and Kivu, and the Ruzizi River down to its delta (though not adjacent Lake Tanganyika) and the upper and middle Kagera River. Records from the Tana River are in error. The countries in which it is found are Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.[1]

It lives in diverse freshwater habitats, from inshore waters of lakes to rapidly flowing rivers. This species is an omnivore, eating water plants, molluscs and fishes. It is fished for sport and food; its Kagera River population being of some commercial significance.[1]

Widespread and apparently rather plentiful for such a large fish due to its ecological tolerance and omnivorous habits, the Ripon Barbel is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. Local stocks might be temporarily affected by erosion after deforestation increasing turbidity and upsetting the aquatic plant life, and unsustainable growth of the fisheries e.g. along the Kagera must be avoided considering that it is presumably – as per its large size and like many relatives – slow-growing and takes long to mature.[1]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ntakimazi (2006)
  2. ↑ Ntakimazi (2006), de Graaf et al. (2007)

References

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