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Title: LAKE TANGANYIKA:
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Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake . It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by vo...

Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, in both cases, after only Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake.

The lake is divided among four countries – Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania (46%) and DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

The name apparently refers to "Tanganika, 'the great lake spreading out like a plain', or 'plain-like lake'."

Biology

Fish

The lake holds at least 250 species of cichlid fish and 75 species of non-cichlid fish, most of which live along the shoreline down to a depth of approximately 180 metres (590 ft).

The largest biomass of fish, however, is in the pelagic zone (open waters) and is dominated by six species: two species of "Tanganyika sardine" and four species of predatory Lates (related to, but not the same as, the Nile perch that has devastated Lake Victoria cichlids).

Lake Tanganyika is considered the oldest of the East African lakes, and has the most morphologically and genetically diverse groups of cichlids. This lake also has the largest number of endemic cichlid genera of all African lakes. Almost all (98%) of the Tanganyikan cichlid species are endemic to the lake, and Lake Tanganyika is thus an important biological resource for the study of speciation in evolution.

Among the non-cichlid fish, 59% of the species are endemic. Lake Tanganyika is the most diverse extent of adaptive radiation.

Many species of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika, such as fish from the brightly coloured Tropheus genus, are popular fish among aquarium owners due to their bright colors. Recreating a Lake Tanganyika biotope to host those cichlids in a habitat similar to their natural environment is also popular in the aquarium hobby.