Approximately 20% of Malawi is covered by water and the various rivers and lakes are extremely important elements in the economy of the country, not only in the field of supporting productive fisheries, but also for transport and hydro-electric power production. The fish themselves, particularly the endemic cichlids of Lake Malawi, have proved of immense interest to taxonomists and evolutionary theorists, and the structure and formation of the lake is relevant to that field of research. in compiling this bibliography for use in fisheries research, it became clear that the various disciplines such as fisheries, ichthyology, limnology, hydrology, climate and geography (particularly rift valley morphology) are inextricably linked and that a comprehensive bibliography covering all disciplines would be of much greater value than a compilation restricted solely to fish.
The bibliography is ‘complete’ up to the end of 1984, though many 1985 references were included as the compilation went to press. The great majority of references have been personally examined by the authors, though inevitably several were unavailable and are taken from other reference lists. Wherever possible such references were checked in other publications, but it is probable that a small number of errors crept in from such sources. The authors would be grateful for information on such errors, and on any omissions, for inclusion in future supplements.
Subjects covered (A) Fish and Fisheries. (B) Aquatic Birds. A selected bibliography of the more relevant aquatic bird references is included in the main section. Other references are included in abbreviated form in a separate section. (C) Other Aquatic Animals. (Crustacea, Mollusca, Insecta, Amphibia, Reptilia, Mammalia, etc.). Some books listed, e.g. Brown (1980) for molluscs, have comprehensive bibliographies for their subjects. (D) Geology and Geomorphology. Only those references directly relevant to lake formation and/or structure have been included. (E) Limnology, Hydrology and Climate. (F) History. Descriptions of the rivers and lakes by early explorers can be very useful references, e.g. in determining trends in lake levels or changes in surroundings due to human interference. A selected, somewhat subjective, list of early explorers' books is therefore included in the main section, but not later historical books which do not add any new information. Two useful general descriptive books on Lake Malawi and its history (Debenham, 1955; Ransford, 1966) are however listed.
Format The bibliography is split up into five sections. The first, major, section covers published scientific papers and reports, books, and proceedings of conferences. Section two includes all Fisheries Department Annual Reports, and, where these include research reports, the subjects and authors (where recorded) are listed. Section three consists of unpublished reports and consultants reports. The bulk of these are Fisheries Department reports and are available in the files of the Malawi Fisheries Department. Preliminary reports, the contents of which were later included in scientific papers by the same author (s) are not included. For other disciplines, the reports listed are mainly those which have been cited in scientific literature. This section also includes a list of unchecked references from Mozambique covering waters on the border between the two countries. Section four is a list of aquatic bird references in abbreviated form, derived mostly from the comprehensive bibliography in Benson and Benson (1977), with a few later additions, mainly from “Nyala” the journal of the National Fauna Preservation Society of Malawi. The “records” section of this journal lists many range extensions, etc. for birds, which are not listed in this bibliography. Section five evolved as a way round the major difficulty in this project. The mbuna (rock-dwelling cichlids) of Lake Malawi are of major interest to the international aquarist trade and are therefore the subject of numerous articles in the aquarist press. Many, if not most, of these are excellent articles, e.g. elucidating various aspects of the species' biology in captivity. However, as a result of the fact that the great majority of mbuna and other aquarium fish are undescribed, numerous errors occur in naming the fishes concerned. To vet the voluminous literature for articles worthy of inclusion would be a major project and the choices would inevitable be subjective. Therefore, only those articles which describe new species or discuss generic status are included in the main section, as these are articles which have to be considered by any taxonomist involved in the study of the species concerned. The rest of the articles are listed in section five by magazine, volume and page numbers only, thereby allowing the listing of hundreds of articles which would otherwise have to be omitted.
Acknowledgements We are indebted to numerous people for their assistance in the compilation of this bibliography. The Fisheries research library in Monkey Bay was a rich source of references, due primarily to the efforts of Mr. D.H. Eccles in amassing material when he was Senior Fisheries Research Officer. Mr. Eccles also gave a great deal of assistance at the initiation of the project and periodically during the compilation. Other sources of material within Malawi were the Departments of Water Resources and Geological Survey. We are indebted to Mr. P. Mosley of the latter Department for assistance. The library of Chancellor College, University of Malawi, was also helpful. We thank Dr. Crossley of Chancellor College for his assistance with rift valley morphology and geological references. FAO also gave willing assistance, in particular Mr. J.L. Turner and Dr. J.M. Kapetsky. British Museum (Natural History) library references were checked for us by Dr. W. Dominey. Mollusc references were supplied by Mr. W.N. Gray. Mr. J. Disney and Mr. D. Walker assisted with references from the former Tropical Products Institute. Mr. F.M.I. Johnston's library was a rich source of historical references. The quarterly bibliographies produced for the Limnological Society of Southern Africa by Dr. A. Jacot Guillarmod and Mrs. P. Eva were very useful and Dr. Jacot Guillarmod was quick to reply to letters and queries. The Monkey Bay librarians, M.A. Chisisili and B. Thindwa were of great assistance in checking the library and tracing references. Dr. K.R. McKaye allowed us to use his computer to prepare the early drafts. Without that this bibliography would still be far from ready for publication. We are especially grateful to Sharon Tweddle for the mammoth task of typing this bibliography into the computer. Drafts were checked either in whole or in part by Drs. D.S.C. Lewis, G. Fryer, A.J. McLachlan and E. Trewavas and Mr. R.J. Dowsett.
Finally, a number of aquarist journals gave enthusiastic support, and we are particularly indebted to Mr. M. de Salle of Cichlidae (Belgium), J.R. Crout of Buntbarsche Bulletin, D. Monk of Cichlidae (Britain), B. Jacobi of DCG, and Dr. W.E. Burgess of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. We regret the absence from the list of a number of other prominent magazines, but their indices were not received before this bibliography went to press.
