Freshwater shes are the second most threatened group of vertebrates after amphibians. In most developing countries, the conservation of freshwater shes is largely hampered by limited information and data. The Red List assessments by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provide a benchmark for conservation and planning, but these assessments require, inter alia, quantitative information on the species range in the wild. This information is largely missing for many species that face extinction threats. In this paper, we combined species occurrence data, expert knowledge, and literature to review and update the distribution of non-Haplochromis sh species native to Uganda and determine their geographical extent relative to the global range. Results showed that (i) at least 110 non-Haplochromis species occur in Uganda, (ii) the current status in the entire native range for more than 60% of these species is unknown; (iii) ve species previously known to occur in Uganda: Amphilius kivuensis, Bagrus degeni, Marcusenius macrolepidotus, Petrocephalus catostoma, and Lacustricola pumilus lack a native locus and hence not Ugandan shes, (iv) 17 species occur in areas beyond their previously known range, and therefore, their presence needs further investigations, preferably by examining specimen collections, and (v) majority of the non-Haplochromis species native to Uganda have a wide distribution outside the national boundaries. We anticipate this information to be relevant both for the national and global IUCN Red List assessments for the non-Haplochromis shes in Uganda. Furthermore, the identi ed data gaps will be relevant in prioritizing limited resources during surveys and collections.
Freshwater fishes are the second most threatened group of vertebrates after amphibians. In most developing countries, the conservation of freshwater fishes is largely hampered by limited information and data. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments provide a benchmark for conservation and development planning, but these assessments require, inter alia, quantitative information on the species range in the wild. This information is largely missing for many species that face extinction. In this paper, we combined species occurrence data, expert knowledge, and literature to review and update the distribution of non-Haplochromis fish species native to Uganda and determine their geographical extent relative to the global range. Results showed that (i) at least 110 non-Haplochromis species occur in Uganda, (ii) the current status in the entire native range for more than 60% of these species is unknown; (iii) five species previously known to occur in Uganda: Amphilius kivuensis, Bagrus degeni, Marcusenius macrolepidotus, Petrocephalus catostoma, and Lacustricola pumilus lack a native locus and hence not Ugandan fishes, (iv) 17 species occur in areas beyond their previously known range, and therefore, their presence needs further investigations, preferably by examining specimen collections, and (v) majority of the non-Haplochromis species native to Uganda have a wide distribution outside the national boundaries. We anticipate this information to be relevant both for the national and global IUCN Red List assessments for the non-Haplochromis fishes in Uganda. Furthermore, the identified data gaps will be relevant in prioritizing limited resources during surveys and collections.
Freshwater fishes are the second most threatened group of vertebrates after amphibians. In most developing countries, the conservation of freshwater fishes is largely hampered by limited information and data. The Red List assessments by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provide a benchmark for conservation and planning, but these assessments require, inter alia, quantitative information on the species range in the wild. This information is largely missing for many species that face extinction threats. In this paper, we combined species occurrence data, expert knowledge, and literature to review and update the distribution of non-Haplochromis fish species native to Uganda and determine their geographical extent relative to the global range. Results showed that (i) at least 110 non-Haplochromis species occur in Uganda, (ii) the current status in the entire native range for more than 60% of these species is unknown; (iii) five species previously known to occur in Uganda: Amphilius kivuensis, Bagrus degeni, Marcusenius macrolepidotus, Petrocephalus catostoma, and Lacustricola pumilus lack a native locus and hence not Ugandan fishes, (iv) 17 species occur in areas beyond their previously known range, and therefore, their presence needs further investigations, preferably by examining specimen collections, and (v) majority of the non-Haplochromis species native to Uganda have a wide distribution outside the national boundaries. We anticipate this information to be relevant both for the national and global IUCN Red List assessments for the non-Haplochromis fishes in Uganda. Furthermore, the identified data gaps will be relevant in prioritizing limited resources during surveys and collections.
Assessing the conservation status of species according to their extinction risk is a major step in conservation planning. To date, most of the assessments have been conducted at a global scale; yet, most conservation efforts are conducted at the national or local scale. Also, the global assessments often do not fit individual countries whose biodiversity may have unique threats that are specific and distinct from those at the global level. Elsewhere, this problem has been addressed by developing national Red Lists; in Uganda, this approach is also taking root, except that it has only focused on terrestrial biota, with limited attention to freshwater biodiversity. To address this gap, we used species occurrence data, integrated with expert knowledge and literature, to assess the extinction risk of 110 non-Haplochromis fishes in Uganda at a national scale. Then, we compared these assessments with the IUCN global red list categories published by 2021. The national threat classifications differed substantially from those at the global level; specifically, more species were threatened at the national level than at the global level. Generally, this finding was expected as has been observed elsewhere, but for the case of Uganda, it was only expected for species with a wide distribution beyond the national boundaries and not for fishes that are geographically restricted, where the global and national threat statuses are expected to be comparable. This finding underscores the importance of national assessments even when species are designated as “Least concern” at the global level. This study constitutes the first national red list for fish species in Uganda. This work has the potential to (i) trigger site-based conservation and rethinking of the extent of protected areas, (ii) stimulate data collection, especially in areas where fishes are designated as “Data Deficient”, and (iii) aid updating of the regional and global IUCN Red List assessments, for which conservation status of the majority non-Haplochromis species is outdated and many others remain unevaluated.
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