Fish of the Lake Victoria

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.

Nile perch (introduced), Nile tilapia (introduced), remaining Victoria cichlids, lungfish, catfish, dagaa (silver cyprinid).

Cichlid extinction crisis. Water hyacinth invasion. Eutrophication from agricultural runoff. Overfishing of Nile perch. Ongoing efforts to preserve remaining cichlid diversity.