Contribution of Research Projects and Environmental Impact Assessment Studies to Fauna Biodiversity in Sudan

Eighteen species of ants were recorded for the first time in Sudan including Lepisiota omeri n. sp.; Parasitological surveys of freshwater fishes of the Sudan during 2006 to 2014revealed the presence of four genera of parasitic crustacean; 42 species belonging to 19 monogenean genera parasites were collected from 26 fish species. Out of these the following five species are new to science (n. sp.): Quadriacanthus fornicatus, Q. pravus, Q. zuheiri, Q. mandibulatus and Dogielius senegalensis . Seven new records to the Sudan helminthes were added. These are: two cestodes ( Monobothrioides tchadensis and Proteocephalus glanduligerus ); one digenetic ( Clinostomum complanatum larva) and three nematodes ( Capil- laria sp., Spinitectus sp. and Philometra bagri . Recording of Barsonella lafoni as a n. sp. of Proteocephalidean (Cestoda) from Clarias catfishes was based on material from Tarkana Lake (Kenya) and Wadi Halfa, Lake Nubia, Sudan. Fourteen nematodes including Cucullanus mormyri sp. n. from Mormyrus caschive from Kosti (White Nile) and Procamallanus (Spirocamalla- nus) pseudospiralis sp. n. from Synodontis schall from Khartoum, and S. frontosus, S. nigrita and S. schall from Khashm el Girba (Atbara River). In addition to two nematodes Contracaecum sp. Third stage-larvae Type 2 and Capillariidae gen . sp., needs further evaluation. All these parasites represent new host and geographical records. With respect to fishes an apparently undescribed Haplochromis species, marked variation in Sarotherodon galilaeus populations were noticed. Enteromius macrops were reported for the first time from the main Nile Basin. The mormyrid species Cyphomyrus petherici and Petrocephalus keatingii , as well as the small mochokid Mochokus brevis are new locality record for the White Nile. Coptodon zilli is a new locality record for Lake Nubia. Six bird species: Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax africanus, Ciconia ciconia, Platalea leucorodia, Haliaetus vocifer and Pluvianus aegyptius were recorded for the first time from Lake Nubia.


Introduction
Sudan is endowed with diversified habitats extending from the Red Sea hot brines (Atlantis II Deep) in the east to the high peaks of Jebel Marra in the west. Its ecological zones extend from low rain fall savannah in the south to deserts in the north with the meandering River Nile and its tributaries heading north to Egypt at the Mediterranean Sea. The goods, services and values provided by the biota in these habitats are immense. In line with this is the value of corals of the Sudanese Red Sea described by Jacques Cousteau "Life abounds in bank after bank of exuberant coral structures, second only to those of The Great Barrier Reef in extent and exceeding it perhaps in splendor" [1]. The presence of some flora communities in remote and inaccessible areas calls for fund raising to fill in the gap in knowledge [2]. This holds true for fauna.
The author contributed in the following four studies: diversity of ants of Sudan based on material collected during environmental impact assessment surveys; parasitological findings from freshwater fishes collected from Kosti, Sinnar, Khashm el Girba "Parasitological survey of freshwater fishes of the Nile project" [3][4][5]; the diversity of fresh water fishes project [6] and the avifauna of Lake Nubia documented in "Watershed Management Framework: Nubia Lake Environmental Survey" [7].
The objective of this work is to cast light on the contribution of field work, research projects and environmental impact assessment studies to the fauna Biodiversity in Sudan based on data from four selected.

Material and Methods
Ants were picked up using a strip of paper, preserved in 70% ethanol with one drop of glycerol. Identification of ant was based on Bolton [8][9][10][11]. The websites [10,11] contains notes on ants of the Sudan concerning location, habits, collector and authors.

International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources
The gills of freshly killed fishes were extracted and examined in bottled water under a dissecting microscope. Live monogeneans were individually picked from the gills with fine needles and prepared for morphological studies following [12]. Parasites found in the intestine were isolated and prepared for examination following [13,14] as appropriate.

Ants
The findings are summarized in the following points: a) Lepisiota omeri Taylor was described as a new Hymenoptera, Formicidae species for science from Haj Abd Alla 13°58›0» N, 33°34›60" E) Sinnar State, Sudan [20]. Oxford University Museum of Natural History was the depository of the prototype L. omeri ( Figure 1). b) Eighteen species of ants were recorded for the first time in Sudan from 26 localities (Table 1).

c)
Pachycondyla ruginota was most diverse and was encountered in 10 localities, followed by Catagluphis adyssinicus in 5 localities.

Parasites of freshwater fishes
Parasitological surveys of freshwater fishes of the Sudan during 2006 to 2014 revealed the following: a) Four genera of parasitic crustacean were record. These were Argulus, Ergasilus, Lamproglena and Lernaea and 12 species new for science were documented. Forty two species belonging to 19 monogenean genera parasites were collected from 26 fish species [3]. All dactylogyrid species in this study represent new host and geographical records [5]. e) Studies of the species of Characidotrema (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) and reported from Brycinus nurse: Characidotrema brevipenis, C. nursei, C. spinivaginus, C. zelotes and the new species Characidotrema pollex n. sp from Kosti and Sinnar [22]. The morphology of Schilbetrema spp. from Sudan, complemented with molecular analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data (28S, 18S and ITS-rDNA), is still under evaluation. Eleven Schilbetrema species have been distinguished. Phylogenetic analysis showed division of Schilbetrema species into two main clades corresponding to host species (A-Schilbe intermedius and S. uranoscopus; S. mystus) [22].

i)
Taxonomic evaluation was made on the basis of both morphometrical observation and molecular methods and constituted the material of 10 publications [3-5, 21 to 30].

j)
Material collected in 2014 is still under identification process.

Freshwater fishes
Moritz et al. [6] reported from Kosti (White Nile) an apparently undescribed Haplochromis species. They also noted a marked variance in Sarotherodon galilaeus populations. Specimens from Makhaleif and Kosti differ clearly in head contour, overall body shape and colouration pattern from standard Nilo-Sudanian S. galilaeus commonly occurring in the White Nile and elsewhere. They reported Enteromius macrops for the first time from the Nile Basin and confirmed the first record of Paradistichodus dimidiatus in the Nile system made by [3]. The mormyrid species Cyphomyrus petherici and Petrocephalus keatingii, as well as the small mochokid Mochokus brevis are new locality record for the White Nile [6]. Coptodon zilli is a new locality record for Lake Nubia [31].
The following six species Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax africanus, Ciconia ciconia, Platalea leucorodia (Figure 2), Haliaetus vocifer and Pluvianus aegyptius were recorded for the first time from Lake Nubia.  According to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http:// www.iucnredlist.org, 2012) all the birds listed in Table 2 are categorized as least concern (ver 3.1). The list given in Table 2 included [32] data as well.
Lake Nubia provides food for a considerable number of bird species. Based on [33] the birds of Lake Nubia can be divided into: aquatic plants feeders such as the White faced Whistling Duck; aquatic insects' feeders such as Swifts; invertebrate's feeders such as migrant waders and railsn; piscivores such as Osprey and kingfishers ( Figure 3). Cattle Egret is partially dependant on aquatic food [34]. The plans for future work include collection of faunal material from other localities, especially those inaccessible for the time being.