Poor decisions of the past may cost Cape its 'living gold'

Abstract

Conservation R eferred to as the continent’s ‘living gold’ African yellowfish are striking creatures well known and valued for their beauty and as a food source. According to Prof Paul Skelton, MD of the South African Institute of Aquatic Bio­ diversity, yellowfishes are endemic to Africa, and constitute a lineage of about 80 large cyprinid fish species with some well defined traits and characteristics. The most outstanding feature of the African yellowfish lineage is the high number (about 150) of cell chromosomes – a fact only recently discovered (most cyprinid species have around 50 chromo­ somes in each cell). The large size and fighting spirit of some species make them excellent game fish. There are adults that grow beyond 150 mm standard length, with larger species attaining a length of about a metre, and a mass as much as 30 kg. These fish occur in all the larger rivers in sub­Saharan Africa, including the Nile, Congo, Zambezi, as well as in the Great Rift and other lakes of East Africa.

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