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Lake - Freshwater
Fish of the Lake Victoria
Africas largest lake by surface area - once home to 500+ cichlid species before the tragic Nile perch introduction devastated its biodiversity.
Continent: Africa Area: 68,800 km² Max Depth: 84m Climate: Tropical
📖 Overview
Lake Victoria was once the greatest natural evolutionary laboratory on Earth. Over 500 endemic cichlid species evolved from a single ancestor in just 15,000 years. Then in the 1950s, Nile perch (Lates niloticus) was introduced for commercial fishing. Within decades, over 200 cichlid species went extinct - one of the fastest mass extinctions ever documented. The lake now supports a controversial Nile perch export industry while conservation efforts try to save remaining native species.
🐟 Notable Species
Nile perch (introduced), Nile tilapia (introduced), remaining Victoria cichlids, lungfish, catfish, dagaa (silver cyprinid).