Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report - Biodiversity Foundation for Africa

Miombo Ecoregion Report, page 26
Ten areas of high reptile/amphibian diversity have been identified. The highest diversity is found
in Upemba National Park in the DRC (100 reptiles and 50 amphibians), Shashe in SW
Zimbabwe/N South Africa (100 reptiles and 18 amphibians), including species more typical of
the Kalahari, and the Hwange National Park area (81 reptile and 25 amphibian species).
Seven areas of endemism have been identified of which the richest are Upemba /Kandelungu
National Parks (7 reptile and 6 amphibians), the Rovuma area of SE Tanzania-NE Mozambique
(11 reptile and 4 amphibians), and Barotseland (5 reptiles and 2 frogs).
The major threatened reptiles are the Slender-snouted Crocodile Crocodylus cataphractus in
Lake Mweru and the Flap-shell Turtle Cycloderma frenatum. However, a proper assessment of
threat for reptiles and amphibians has still not been completed and there are likely to be more
3.3.5 Fish
The Zambezian ichthyological province, which includes the Zambezi basin and rivers that were
once part of it (e.g. the Cunene), contains 196 fish species. This total excludes Lake Malawi with
600–800 species. Around 25 species have been introduced into the area over the last 100 years,
but most have failed to establish.
Excluding the Great Lakes with their exceptional species richness, there are two areas of
particular fish species richness within the ecoregion ― Lake Mweru and the Luapula River with
94 species, and the Upper Zambezi with about 92 species (B. Marshall, pers. comm.).
Fifteen species are endemic to the palaeo-Zambezi basin, including four endemics in the
Chambeshi River and Lake Bangweulu, with an additional 15 species being near-endemic
(Marshall 2000, B. Marshall pers. comm.). There are four major areas of endemism – Lake
Malawi (600–800 species, of which 99% are endemic), Lake Tanganyika (290 species, of which
90% are endemic), the Lake Malawi drainage basin (38 species, of which 25% are endemic) and
the Cunene River (63 species, of which 13% are endemic).
A number of species from the Congo system are only known from very few specimens. This may
be an artefact of lack of collecting. Six species are under threat: Opsaridium peringueyi (semiarid
Save and Limpopo systems); Nothobranchius furzeri (a few pans in southeastern
Zimbabwe); Chiloglanis emarginatus (South Africa, 2 specimens in Zimbabwe);Oreochromis
mossambicus (widespread in the lower Zambezi, but are under threat from the exotic O.
niloticus); Oreochromis andersonii and O. macrochir (similar threat); and Nothobranchius sp.
(small pans in the Caprivi Strip).
Fish are of major economic significance as a source of protein, particularly around the larger
water bodies. Sport-fishing for tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus has important economic benefits
around Lake Kariba and in some parts of the Zambezi.
3.3.6 Invertebrates
Invertebrates in the region are poorly known. The best-known groups are: Lepidoptera
(butterflies, emperor moths, hawk moths), Diptera (tsetse flies, mosquitoes), Coleoptera (dung
beetles, flower chaffers), Orthoptera (grasshoppers/locust, mantids), Isoptera (termites), Mollusca
(freshwater species) and agricultural pests and invertebrates of medical and veterinary
importance (ticks, helminths).