THE BENTHOS OF SOME SOUTHERN AFRICAN LAKES PART I: DISTRIBUTION OF AQUATIC MACROPHYTES AND FISH IN LAKE SIBAYI

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Abstract
A preliminary investigation of the submerged macrophytes and fish of Lake Sibayi was carried out using diving techniques. In the main basin of the lake, macrophytes were absent from water shallower than 1 · 5 to 2 metres, apparently due to wave action. Down to a depth of 5 metres, Potamogeton pectinatus L. and P. schweinfurthii A. Benn were the dominant species. Below 5 metres Myriophyllum spicatum L. was dominant. Macrophytes were absent from water deeper than 7 metres, probably due to reduced light intensities. Tilapia mossambica Peters was found to nest either in association with submerged macrophytes or in very shallow water. T. mossambica did not construct its nests in dense weed or in water deeper than 7 metres. Shoals of small cichlids, chiefly T. mossambica, were observed to feed down to a depth of 20 metres several kilometres from the shore. The burrowing goby Croilia mossambica Smith was found to occur in the bottom of the lake down to 20 metres.