Limbochromis Conservation Project

Limbochromis Conservation Project, category A1

Limbochromis robertsi (Thys van den Audenaerde & Loiselle, 1971), a member of the group of chromidotilapine cichlids, is the only member of its genus. It has an extremely limited distribution range and is only known from around Kyebi in the Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa, and one other small area in Western Ghana. There it is restricted to a very limited range consisting of several small hill creeks.
Today the Kyebi region is severely affected by illegal gold mining and increased agriculture due to population growth. The small creeks drain to the heavily polluted Birim river, but here the habitat around the mouths of the creeks has been heavily fragmented and mostly destroyed, so the species has already vanished from this sector. The small creeks are also showing signs of the increased pollution due to agricultural chemicals (herbicides, pesticides), and increase in temperature and sunlight due to deforestation. Illegal gold mining in the Birim river's flood zone will eventually spread up into the hills along the creek beds. In addition, as the latest and most recent announcement, it has become known that the Government of Ghana has sold to China fairly unlimited rights to logging and mining minerals for the region.  Construction of the road north of Kyebi (to Asiakwa) has entirely destroyed some of the creeks and they have now disappeared. The status of the population in the Ankasa region in the west is unclear; no information has been available for more than 20 years.

These are the reasons why the Limbochromis robertsi as a species have been categorized as A1.
From observations in 2016 and 2018 the population size around Kyebi can be best estimated to comprise less than 1000 individuals, that represents only around 10% of the original population observed in the beginning of the 1990ies. The remaining population is spread over three small creeks, less than two meters wide and half a meter deep. The creeks (The Black, Red and White Krensen) are not connected and drain directly to the Birim river.
Limbochromis robertsi is a unique cichlid in Africa as it is the only species known to switch independently between two breeding strategies: while primarily a cave breeding, pair bonding species, it may also raise young as a larvophilic mouth brooder, with only the female holding the larvae in her mouth even if the pair remains together. Additionally the species is interesting regarding the current molecular results the next relative seems to be a cichlid species from the Central Congo region.

Due to the very small number of specimens left in the wild, the species is in dearest need of a conservation program and should be considered to be nearly extinct. While in-situ conservation of the habitat would be ideal, there is little hope that the remaining habitat around Kyebi and the Ankasa region (if the species still exists there) can be protected. Further exploration of both regions is needed to confirm the exact distribution and population size.  
An ex-situ program in cooperation with Ghana (hopefully), international scientific institutions as well as public aquariums/zoos and private specialists seems to be the most effective way to halt the extinction of this Ghana endemic.

Project manager: Mag. Dr. Anton Lamboj    Email: a.lamboj@oevvoe.org

Project member
Anton Lamboj (AT)
Berliner Gesellschaft für Großaquarien (BGG) im AquaDom (D)
Zoo Berlin (D)
Tiergarten Schönbrunn (AT)  
Stephan Inselmann (D)
Andreas Wellmann (D)
Peter Piepenstock (D)
Rene Kruter (NL)

Project-Email: chromidotilapiine@oevvoe.org

Project partner