Growth and mortality of the introduced Lake Tanganyika clupeid, Limnothrissa miodon, in Lake Kariba

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Abstract
The growth and mortality of the small clupeid fish Limnothrissa miodon were studied in Lake Kariba, a large, man‐made lake in central Africa. Growth could be described by the von Bertalanffy equation lt= 74.2 (1—e−0.254(t+0.07)) where length (l) is expressed in millimetres and time (t) in months. The monthly rates of mortality were high and increasing under intensive fishing; in 1983 the total mortality rate Z=1.15 and natural mortality M=0.7. Limnothrissa appears to be stunted in the man‐made lakes where it occurs (Kariba and Cahora Bassa) where it grows at a faster rate but to a smaller size than it does in natural lakes (Kivu and Tanganyika). Various hypotheses to account for this are discussed and it was concluded that this is an adaptation to the relatively unstable conditions found in the man‐made lakes.