Fish species occurrences from selected near shore and riverine habitats in Lake Edward (2019)

Study Extent

The sampling was conducted using experimental gill netting in Lake Edward. The experimental gill-netting was conducted twice in 2019. The first sampling was conducted in March and the second sampling, in July.

Sampling

Experimental gill-netting was carried out at selected stations. Experimental gill-netting was conducted twice in each site in March and July 2019. At each station, three fleets of graded mesh gill nets (ranging from size 1” to 8”) were set parallel to the shoreline out towards the open water. The inshore (1st) fleet was set next to the shoreline vegetation within 0-100 m distance. The middle fleet was set between 100 m and 200 m from the 1st fleet while the last (offshore) fleet was set more than 300 m from the shore. The nets were set in the evening (1800h – 1900h) and lifted at dawn (0500h – 0600h) the following morning. After retrieval of gill nets, fish were removed, sorted, identified to the lowest taxonomical category possible, counted and weighed.

Quality Control

Measures taken to improve data quality included taking field photos of identified fish species; using fish identification keys to identify fish. Specimens for fish that could not be identified in the field were transferred to the laboratory for further processing. Species names were validated using FishBase (Froese & Paully, 2019).

Method steps

1. Fish capture Fish were captured using experimental gill-nets set at selected stations. The gill-netting was done twice in 2019 (March and July). At each station, three fleets of multifilament gill nets of mesh sizes ranging from 1 to 8 inches were set parallel to the shoreline. The inshore (1st) fleet was set next to the shoreline vegetation within 0-100 m distance from the shoreline. The middle fleet was set between 100 m and 200 m from the 1st fleet while the last (offshore) fleet was set more than 300 m from the shore. The nets were set in the evening (1800h – 1900h) and retrieved at dawn the next day.
2. Data processing Fish retrieved from gill-nets were sorted by taxa, counted and weighted.

The dataset covers fishes in Lake Edward, Uganda

1. Astatoreochromis alluaudi 
   rank: species
2. Bagrus docmak
   rank: species
3. Clarias gariepinus
   rank: species
4. Coptodon zillii
   rank: species
5. Ctenopoma muriei
   rank: species
6. Haplochromis
   rank: genus
7. Haplochromis labiatus
   rank: species
8. Haplochromis squamipinnis
   rank: species
9. Labeo forskalii
   rank: species
10. Labeobarbus altianalis
    rank: species
11. Labeobarbus/Enteromius
    rank: genus
12. Mormyrus kannume
    rank: species
13. Oreochromis niloticus
    rank: species
14. Oreochromis leucostictus
    rank: species
15. Protopterus aethiopicus
    rank: species

The dataset covers Lake Edward, Uganda