Taxacom: Fwd: "Muankengap" in German East Africa

[Michael Oliver]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Michael Oliver <anagenys at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Feb 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: Taxacom: "Muankengap" in German East Africa
To: Andy Mabbett <andy at pigsonthewing.org.uk>


What lovely bonus information! It is distinctly helpful. I agree, based on
all these literature finds, that the mystery locality seems to be on the
lower Lufirio River in what is now Tanzania, somewhere near where it
empties into northern L. Malawi. (Lufirio is the spelling on both a 1976
Malawi government map of mine (
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmalawicichlids.com%2Fmalawi_250000_sheet_1_karonga_1976.jpg&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C0b1f34adbbb14e32e6ef08dd43ebd05d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638741405096144163%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LV1w1qakpdUWw7%2F0dYzR7o5rivbCfVytJpPnj3WV0GE%3D&reserved=0) and a
1904 German East Africa map (
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deutschefotothek.de%2Fdocuments%2Fobj%2F90065225%2Fdf_dk_0009159_F4&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C0b1f34adbbb14e32e6ef08dd43ebd05d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638741405103083864%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Rwm1F6hqnoLQZY3nYOgeXJy%2BESQBJVln1kcNGhROoxw%3D&reserved=0).

What I'm doing (oddly, as an ichthyologist) is working toward an initial
list of Lake Malawi's invertebrates. Many occur unambiguously in the lake
proper. Many further taxa, however, have been collected and identified from
lakeshore swamps, called dambos in Malawi. I'm thinking to include those in
my list, as large chunks of the reeds, papyrus, etc. that compose these
dambos break off annually in windy weather and drift (with their fauna) for
tens of kilometers around the southern part of the lake (
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmalawicichlids.com%2Foliver_mckaye_1982.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C0b1f34adbbb14e32e6ef08dd43ebd05d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638741405103103474%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=231oHbfTEL32dSYAm5aBy3d1jANkJJKiY5QMiVDDaAE%3D&reserved=0). Boaters are warned of
these floating islands on some Lake Malawi charts.

I had hoped that the "Sumpf" at Muankengap might be one of these lakeshore
dambos, and perhaps it is; but the evidence seems inadequate to make this
conclusion. Google Earth shows no current lakeshore swamp at the mouth of
the Lufirio/Lufilyo, though perhaps one existed a century ago.

Anyway, many thanks for your interest and information.

Michael

On Sat, Feb 1, 2025 at 5:37 PM Andy Mabbett <andy at pigsonthewing.org.uk>
wrote:

> On Thu, 30 Jan 2025 at 01:29, Michael Oliver via Taxacom
> <taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone suggest a modern name or coordinates for the locality
> > "Muankengap"?
>
> I think we have an answer here:
>
>
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWikipedia%3AReference_desk%2FMiscellaneous%23%2522Muankengap%2522_in_German_East_Africa&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C0b1f34adbbb14e32e6ef08dd43ebd05d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638741405103113461%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BA4yxCT4Yy%2FpX2gf1DsI7KX2h5Hs%2BFwtMetw5IJKIVo%3D&reserved=0
>
> In short, "Muankenya", where the Lufilyo River enters Lake
> Malawi/Nyassa at its northernmost tip.
>


-- 
Michael K. Oliver, Ph.D.      A man and a woman / Are one.
MalawiCichlids.com            A man and a woman and a blackbird / Are one.

-- Wallace Stevens


-- 
Michael K. Oliver, Ph.D.      A man and a woman / Are one.
MalawiCichlids.com            A man and a woman and a blackbird / Are one.

-- Wallace Stevens