Bad news on the mystery Syno above. I just checked the pond this morning and he is not long for this earth. He was already heavily damaged when I got him from a young boy, who caught him in a small gill net. As Synos are tough I hoped he might pull through, but it does not look like he will. The rest of the fishes, including the two
S. afrofischeri, look great.
The locals, unfortunately, are not much help identifying Synos as all species are simply known as Nkolongo.
Surviving take from the excursion is thus two
S. afrofischeri, a pair of
Ctenopoma muriei, a single female cichlid, and about 15 barbs. There are also several tadpoles I collected as I want them to grow up and inhabit the pond and grounds. Not a bad day's catch.
Link to interactive map of Lake Nabugabo
http://www.wetlands.org/reports/rammap/ ... d%20system
Some notes on collecting Synos:
As Nabugabo (24 km squared) is a microcosm of Victoria (68,800 km squared). I can only assume that the below notes hold true for Victoria as well.
Historically, Synos were common in Lake Nabugabo proper. A 1962 expedition noted
S. afrofischeri as common. The introduction of the nile perch,
Tilapia, and
Oreochromis changed that. Species that could tolerate low oxygen levels fled these new predators and took up residence in the surrounding swamp and the papyrus-choked Juma River that feeds Lake Nabugabo. The low oxygen levels and heavy structure (mostly emerged plants) provided protection from the new predators. Mean dissolved O2 in the Lake is 3.8 mg/L while in the Juma it is 1.3 mg/L. Species that could not adapt to these new habitats disappeared. These included
Bagrus docmac, three of the four mormyrids,
Clarias gariepinus, and some of the endemic cichlids.
I suspect the extinction of
Bagrus docmac and
Clarias gariepinus in the lake was also hurried along by the perch and
Tilapia eating all their prey.
There are still
S. afrofischeri in Lake Nabugabo, but they are limited to the weed choked margins near feeder streams. These are typically shallow (.5 to 1 meter) areas where thick stands of hippo grass grow.
The heavy structure in the papyrus swamps, weed-choked river, and hippo grass stands make collecting very difficult. There is too much vegetation to pull a seine and a cast net would not reach the substrate as the plants would hold it up. Additionally,
S. afrofischeri is mainly nocturnal based on when they are caught by local fishermen. Collecting with A frame or circular nets would likely turn up a few Synos in the swamps and amongst the papyrus stands in the river, but this is hit or miss. I used this type of net, however, with great success in the river to collect barbs and
Ctenopoma.
I suspect that the best method for collecting Synos will be minnow or bait traps left over night in heavily vegetated areas, such as stands of hippo grass.
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
