The Myaka is a critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 species of fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 in the Cichlidae family. It belongs to the monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Myaka, and is fairly enigmatic, leading some to place it in the Haplochromini instead of Tilapiini. It is endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo

Lake Barombi Mbo

Lake Barombi Mbo or Barombi-Ma-Mbu is a lake in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. It is located in the Cameroon volcanic chain, and is the largest volcanic lake in this region. It is one of the oldest radiocarbon-dated lakes in Africa...

 in western Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. It is threatened because of pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 and sedimentation

Siltation

Siltation is the pollution of water by fine particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable...

 due to human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 (CO₂) from the lake's bottom (compare Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity...

). Konia

Konia (fish)

Konia is a small genus of fishes in the Cichlidae family. The two species in this genus are both critically endangered and endemic to Lake Barombi-ma-Mbu in western Cameroon. They are threatened because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities, and potentially also by large emissions...

, Pungu

Pungu

The pungu is a critically endangered species of fish in the Cichlidae family, and the only member of its genus. It is endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in Cameroon. It is threatened because of pollution and sedimentation from human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide ...

and Stomatepia

Stomatepia

Stomatepia is a genus of fishes in the cichlid family. Its three species are all endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon. They are critically endangered because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide from the lake's...

are three other equally threatened genera of ciclids that also are endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo.

Source

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Myaka myaka. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 August 2007.