Fishes of the African Great Lakes as candidates for introduction into large tropical impoundments

The lakes formed by large power dams are populated by basically riverine faunas. The African Great Lakes are populated by highly specialized endemic faunas containing the bulk of the world's lacustrine fish species. Examples from the fauna of Lake Malawi are considered to illustrate the utilization of various niches, and it is suggested that such specialized species should be introduced into large tropical impoundments to utilize niches probably not fully occupied at present. Such introductions would pose little threat to the ecosystem of the rest of the river system into which they are introduced because of their close specialization to lacustrine conditions.