https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2023.2133

The Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) fish data: a georeferenced dataset of freshwater fishes occurring in South Africa

Vol. 82 No. s1 (2023): Georeferenced freshwater biodiversity data
Submitted: 10 March 2023
Accepted: 16 March 2023
Published: 31 March 2023
freshwater fish, South Africa, GBIF, occurrence data, FBIS
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Authors

Mohammed Kajee
kjxmoh007@myuct.ac.za
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5249-3095
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town; Freshwater Research Centre, Cape Town; DST/NRF Research Chair in Inland Fisheries and Freshwater Ecology, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), Makhanda , South Africa.
Helen F. Dallas
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8133-3365
Freshwater Research Centre, Cape Town; Faculty of Science, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), South Africa.
Aneri Swanepoel
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0328-7957
Freshwater Research Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.
Charles L. Griffiths
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5791-4725
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Jeremy M. Shelton
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7174-5446
Freshwater Research Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.

Freshwater fishes are recognised as South Africa’s most threatened species group. Reliable, long-term data on fish occurrence records are critical for effectively managing and conserving these species. A comprehensive freshwater fish dataset was compiled and uploaded to the Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS, freshwaterbiodiversity.org), comprising all available records of formally described freshwater fish species occurring in South Africa. An 18-month historic-data collation effort resulted in the accrual of 35 955 new records of freshwater fish from South Africa spanning 194 years (1828–2022), that have since been uploaded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Together with pre-existing GBIF records (24 861), a total of 60 837 freshwater fish records are thus now available for South Africa. The data show a marked decline in the number of native fish occurrence records over the last decade. Conversely, the number of occurrences for non-native fishes increased over the past three decades. A data breakdown is provided for each of South Africa’s nine provinces including total number of records, and the numbers of native, non-native, endemic and threatened species. These data provide a much-needed update of the known status and distribution of freshwater fishes in the country.

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Edited by

Diego Fontaneto, National Research Council, Water Research Institute (CNR-IRSA), Verbania Pallanza, Italy

Supporting Agencies

JRS Biodiversity Foundation, South African National Biodiversity Institute, National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

How to Cite

Kajee, Mohammed, Helen F. Dallas, Aneri Swanepoel, Charles L. Griffiths, and Jeremy M. Shelton. 2023. “The Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) Fish Data: A Georeferenced Dataset of Freshwater Fishes Occurring in South Africa”. Journal of Limnology 82 (s1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2023.2133.
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