Progress 09/01/03 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: (1) Completion of fieldwork (October 2008) in the Baro & Tekeze River basins of Ethiopia to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. (2) Organized symposium and gave invited presentation (July 2009) at the 2009 meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Portland, OR. (3) Completion of fieldwork (August 2009) in the lower Malagarasi River basin of western Tanzania. (4) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from new collections and existing museum collections were prepared. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The most significant research outputs over the entire life of the project at Cornell have been: (1) The successful completion of fieldwork to survey the fish faunas in eight African nations including Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. This fieldwork has resulted in the discovery of dozens of new fish species, and provided new research material for many poorly known species. (2) The addition of more than 31,000 fish specimens and 2,000 associated tissues samples to the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. This valuable voucher material has not only benefited this particular project on catfishes, but also benefited several other current and future biodiversity projects involving African freshwater fishes. (3) The successful training and graduation of one student, Thomas Vigliotta with a masters. This student has published his thesis research, and has been successful in gaining employment using the education and research skills he obtained through this project. (4) Cornell participants (Friel and Vigliotta) have been authors on eight peer-reviewed publications that included scientific descriptions of two new genera and four new species of catfishes, the first study ever on the evolutionary relationships among African mochokid catfishes, and an updated key to assist others in identifying the genera of African mochokid catfishes.
Publications
- Day, J. J., Bills, R., and Friel, J. P. 2009. Lacustrine radiations in African Synodontis catfish. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22:805-817.
- Vigliotta, T. R. 2008. A phylogenetic study of the African catfish family Mochokidae (Osteichthys, Ostariophysi, Siluriformes), with a key to the genera. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 157:73-136.
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: (1) Presentations at both the 2008 meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Montreal, Canada, and at the 4th International Conference of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (2) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from new collections and existing museum collections are being prepared. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Products of ACSI will include a completed taxonomy of catfishes with up-to-date identification guides, atlases, catalogues and checklists of species, phylogenetic studies of higher-level relationships among catfishes and an improved predictive classification, large samples of freshwater fishes from poorly collected regions added to permanent collections in U.S. and foreign institutions, and enhanced international communication among fish taxonomists. The website http://clade.acnatsci.org/allcatfish/ for the project and electronic mail listserver will continue after the grant period for dissemination of ACSI data and products, and provide for communication among taxonomists about research, educational and outreach opportunities. Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- Fermon, Y., Friel, J.P., Ng, H.H., and De Weirdt, D. 2008. Mochokidae. In Stiassny, M. L. J., G. G. Teugels, and C. D. Hopkins (eds.). The Fresh and Brackish Water Fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa (Volume 1). IRD Editions, Paris, pp. 698-752.
- Friel, J.P. 2008. Pseudobunocephalus, a new genus of banjo catfish with the description of a new species from the Orinoco River system of Colombia and Venezuela (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 6(3):293-300.
- Friel, J.P. and Sullivan, J.P. 2008. Synodontis woleuensis (Siluriformes: Mochokidae), a new species of catfish from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Africa. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 157:3-12.
- Friel, J.P. and Vigliotta, T.R. 2008. Atopodontus adriaensi, a new genus and species of African suckermouth catfish from the Ogooue and Nyanga River systems of Gabon (Siluriformes: Mochokidae). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 157:13-23.
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
(1) Completion of fieldwork (September 2007) in the Umba, Pangani, Wami, Ruvu and Ruaha River basins of Tanzania to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Several species of fishes collected during this trip are currently under study and will serve as the basis for new species descriptions. (2) Research visits were made to the American Museum of Natural History and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. (3) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from new collections and existing museum collections are being prepared.
Impacts
Products of ACSI will include a completed taxonomy of catfishes with up-to-date identification guides, atlases, catalogues and checklists of species, phylogenetic studies of higher-level relationships among catfishes and an improved predictive classification, large samples of freshwater fishes from poorly collected regions added to permanent collections in U.S. and foreign institutions, and enhanced international communication among fish taxonomists. The website for this project http://clade.acnatsci.org/allcatfish/ and electronic mail list server will continue after the grant period for dissemination of ACSI data and products, and provide for communication among taxonomists about research, educational and outreach opportunities. Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit
conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
The following occurred during the past year: (1) Completion of fieldwork (February-March 2006) in the Ubangui River basin of the Central African Republic to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Several species of fishes collected during this trip are currently under study and will serve as the basis for new species descriptions. (2) Research visits were made to the American Museum of Natural History and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. (3) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from new collections and existing museum collections are being prepared. One manuscript was published this year and another is currently in press.
Impacts
Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- Friel, J.P. and Vigliotta, T.R. 2006. Synodontis acanthoperca, a new species from the Ogooue River system, Gabon with comments on spiny ornamentation and sexual dimorphism in mochokid catfishes (Siluriformes: Mochokidae). Zootaxa 1125:45-56.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
(1) Completion of fieldwork (September-October 2005) in the Luapula River basin of Zambia to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Several species of fishes collected during this trip are currently under study and will serve as the basis for new species descriptions. (2) Construction was nearly completed on a digital library for all descriptions of African catfish species. This involved obtaining original scientific publications and converting them into Adobe Acrobat PDF files. Once in this digital form, this literature can be readily distributed via the Internet to participants in this project. Approximately 300 species descriptions are now in digital form. (3) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from new collections and existing museum collections are being prepared. Two manuscripts related to this project are currently in press.
Impacts
Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
Accomplishments this year included: 1) Completion of fieldwork (January-February 2004) in the Sanaga, Lokundje and Lobe River basins of Cameroon to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Several species of fishes collected during this trip are currently under study and will serve as the basis for new species descriptions. 2) Organization and completion of a workshop at the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) in Grahamstown, South Africa (June 2004). The workshop brought together 22 participants from 10 countries that are experts on African catfishes. The goal of the workshop was to coordinate and support ongoing research activities on catfishes that are part of the overall project. 3) Completion of fieldwork in the Malagarasi River basin of Tanzania (August-October 2004) to collect fish specimens and tissue samples for the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Several species of fishes
collected during this trip are currently under study and will serve as the basis for new species descriptions. 4) Construction was started on a digital library for all descriptions of African catfish species. This involved obtaining original scientific publications and converting them into Adobe Acrobat PDF files. Once in this digital form, this literature can be readily distributed via the Internet to participants in this project. Approximately 300 species descriptions are now in digital form. 5) Manuscripts describing several new species of catfishes from existing museum collections were begun and are nearing completion.
Impacts
Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- Lundberg, J. G., Berra, T. M., and Friel, J. P. 2004. First description of small juveniles of the primitive catfish Diplomystes (Siluriformes: Diplomystidae), Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters 15(1):71-82.
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
This new project is gearing up and a technician has been hired to assist the PI with this project. Descriptions of several new species of catfishes are underway and will be submitted for publication in 2004. In addition, major field trips to collect fish specimens in Cameroon and Tanzania, and a participant workshop in South Africa have been planned for the coming year.
Impacts
Knowing all species and higher-level relationships in a clade as diverse and widespread as catfishes will offer unprecedented follow-up research opportunities in evolution, ecology and organismal biology. Findings of this project will benefit conservation biologists and fisheries managers who depend on accurate taxonomies and museum collection records for prioritizing areas for protection and for making informed species-specific management policies.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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