By Sonica Naudé-Steyn
A group of scientists looking for an extinct fish in the Umzimkhulu River system, instead found a new species, which has already been classified as critically endangered.
According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, a team of researchers travelled to South Africa in 2017 to search for the Maluti redfin minnow, which had been declared extinct after the introduction of trout into the river system devastated its population. According to the study, the researchers did not find what they were looking for however manager to collect a number of minnows which resembled the lost species, however it created a ‘long standing debate’.
The research team then conducted DNA analysis, examined the fish’s physical characteristics and made comparative studies to related species. Surprisingly, the researchers found that the fish were in fact not the Maluti redfin minnow. The analysis results determined that it was a new species, now named the Pseudobarbus Kubhekai, commonly known as the Umzimkhulu redfin minnow.
The study immediately classified the species as critically endangered and said that ‘significant steps’ need to be taken to conserve it, including preventing the introduction of alien fish, identification of suitable habitats, captive breeding and release of captive-bred individuals into the suitable habitats in the Umzimkhulu system. Researchers also withheld the exact location of the fish ‘due to conservation sensitivities’.
The study describes the fish as having a large head, blunt snout, large eyes, olive-brown colouring and bright orange-red spots near its fins. The study indicated that little is known about the reproduction, ecology and biology of the fish and that further research is required.
- A newly identified freshwater fish, Pseudobarbus kubhekai, from South Africa’s Umzimkhulu River, highlights urgent conservation needs for this isolated and endangered species. (Zoosystematics and Evolution)
- Type locality of Pseudobarbus kubhekai in the Umzimkhulu River system. (Zoosystematics and Evolution)
