On Wednesday 4th December, there was a special event at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) as the Guest of Honour Prof. Micheni Japhet Ntiba, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries but also a scientist known for his pivotal work on the reproductive cycle of the Siganidae (Rabbitfishes, some of the most important food fishers for Kenyan coastal populations) unveiled the long-awaited “Guide to the Common Freshwater Fishes of Kenya” written by our very own KENWEB coordinator Wanja Dorothy Nyingi. There were wonderful speeches by the Principal Secretary, by the Director of NMK Dr. Idle Farah, by David Muita CEO of Moran Publishers and of course by Dr.Nyingi herself, who prudently described what has probably been one of the longest gestation histories of any popular fishes guidebook with ups and downs, reversals, blockages, changes of editorial policies, etc. but finally produced by local publisher Moran http://www.moranpublishers.co.ke/ and wonderfully so. 

Dedicated to the memory of the founder of the ichthyology (fish) department of the National Museums Dr. Luc De Vos, who left us all much too soon and very much orphaned, the book generally illustrates and describes about 200 of the most common fish species to be found in Kenya’s main rivers, lakes and swamps. 

More precisely the book contains:

Morphological descriptions of the most important features of the various fish species

Colour photos and illustrations to enable visual recognition of fish

The distribution ranges of the fish species

The names of the fish in local languages and in English

The ecology and behaviour of these fish, including their food preferences, reproductive behaviour and preferred habitat

Information on the importance of the fish or common uses such as subsistence or artisanal fishing, commercial fishing, aquaculture, aquarium trade or sports fishing

The book is a great thing to take into the field and hopefully a stimulus for many more people to go out and understand what is moving under the surface of our many wonderful wetlands and to contribute to their conservation and restoration.