South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity

Scientists are involved in research in marine and coastal and freshwater systems, ranging from the cold Southern Ocean to tropical Lake Malawi and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Research in the institute is directed at marine and freshwater fish taxonomy, systematics, genetics, biology, ecology, ethology, conservation, management and environmental issues.

Currently the Institute is running several fascinating projects and programmes, which include, but are not limited to:

African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme – Our flagship research programme, born out of our historical association with JLB Smith and his discovery of the Coelacanth – Dr A. Ribbink

Systematics and biology of deep-water Southern Ocean fishes – Exploring oceans around South Africa to document the poorly studied deep-water fishes within this region – Dr E. Anderson

Western Indian Ocean fish survey – A major long term research programme that seeks to record and publish the diversity of coastal fishes in the Western Indian Ocean – Dr P. Heemstra

Tsitsikamma National Park inshore fish tagging project – A long-term tagging study of marine linefish species within the Tsitsikamma National Park – Dr P. Cowley

Movement behaviour of important fishery species– Telemetry studies on heavily exploited coastal fish species in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces – Dr P. Cowley

Dynamics of larval fishes in the marine environment – Ecology of the early life stages of fishes along the Eastern and Western Cape coasts – Dr N. Strydom

River flow and ichthyofaunal changes in estuaries – Assessing the importance of freshwater inputs to fishes in Eastern and Western Cape estuaries – Dr A. Whitfield

Long-term monitoring of the East Kleinemonde Estuary fish community – Documenting short, medium and long-term variability in fish assemblages within an intermittently open Eastern Cape estuary – Drs P. Cowley & A. Whitfield

Fish indices to assess the status of southern African estuaries – Using fishes to provide early warning signals on the health of individual estuaries – Dr A. Whitfield

Taxonomy and phylogenetics of the cardinalfish family Apogonidae – Solving taxonomic problems associated with this tropical fish family – Mr O. Gon

Systematics and genetics of the pipefish genus Syngnathus – Using genetics to clarify population trends and species status within this genus – Ms M. Mwale

Biology and conservation status of the Austroglanididae in South Africa – A detailed study of the rock catfishes that occur in the Orange (Gariep) and Olifants river systems of South Africa – Mr R. Bills

Fishes of Zambia , Tanzania and Mozambique – Exploratory fish surveys in poorly known river systems of southern, central and eastern Africa – Mr R. Bills

Systematic and biological studies on amphiliid catfishes – A review of the taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of this African catfish family – Prof. P. Skelton

The Institute is service driven and deals with contracts and consultancies arising from work requested by the private sector and other institutions. SAIAB scientists also deliver lecture courses to selected Eastern Cape universities and supervise both MSc and PhD student studies at a number of South African universities.

Collections

The Institute’s collections are national assets that are held in perpetuity for the benefit of science and future generations. The collections include those containing biological specimens, genetic samples, photographic images, original scientific illustration artwork, spatial data and publications. The library catalogues are comprehensive databases supported by an extensive library and information service. The library is the leading African document and book reference collection on all aspects of fish, fisheries and aquaculture, relevant to the continent and surrounding oceans.

The SAIAB-FAO African Library Information Exchange Programme has been running for five years. This programme aims to facilitate networking for improved access to fisheries and aquaculture information in Africa . This programme is conducted in collaboration with the Fisheries Library of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

At the launch of the South African Biodiversity Information Facility (SABIF), SAIAB was named one of its four data providers, reinforcing its position as a key player in developing public awareness of and access to, science products in the region.

Communications and Outreach

Through its mobile outreach programme, educators and scientists from SAIAB tour the rural Eastern Cape , southern & Western Cape schools, coastal and inland towns several times a year, reaching between 800 and 2000 learners and educators at a time.

The interactive presentations and workshops run as part of these tours include worksheets, learner and educator resource packs, activities like the “fossil-fish dig” (in which learners get to ‘dig-out’ their own fossil), as well as the handling of unusual, preserved fish specimens.

Communications contact:
Penny Haworth - P.Haworth@ru.ac.za, tel: +27 46 603 5812, Communications Manager.

For further information on the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, visit www.saiab.ru.ac.za