Field trip to Guinea 2013
Post date: Oct 14, 2013 3:32:57 PM
From 2 January to 3 February
A group of ichthyologists from the US met with researchers from the National Center for Fisheries Science in Boussoura (Conakry and surrounding areas). Our goal: to discover and inventory the biodiversity of fish in Guinean waters.
The Crew: (left to right) Our Driver, Dr. Friel, Ray Schmidt, 2nd Driver, Dr. Bart, Malorie Hayes, Ousman, Dr. Armbruster, Mai, Mambi (Samba Diallo not pictured)
Success and The Catch
The trip was wildly successful! We hit 46 different sites, in at least a dozen prefectures (states), taking nearly 900 tissues with a final estimate of 4600ish fish. We worked hard and were greatly rewarded for our efforts.
We were focused on catching Cypriniform fishes (minnows and suckerfish), but saw amazing diversity in freshwater fish. One of the first seine hauls Dr. Armbruster and I did together pulled up a Bichir! We also got to see elephantfish, lots of catfish, and more!
Personally, the most important part of the trip was that it solidified my desire to work on a group of fish in Africa in the (not accurately named) genus 'Barbus.' This group is in great need of taxonomic revision, and after seeing them in person, I'm motivated to resolve their relationships!
Malorie Hayes (Me!) carrying a seine and
bucket full of fish from our collection site
Here is a sampling of some of the minnows we caught during our month-long stint.
Photographs by J.W. Armbruster
Specimens were caught and preserved for later examination in the lab. Many of the fish we took also had samples of their tissue taken for genetic analysis.
Genetic work, combined with examination of the physical characters, taken for genetic analysis will help to explain the evolutionary relationships between the fish of the region!
*Edited 13 December 2015 for formatting