Fish Composition and Diversity in the Lake Malawi National Park, A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lake Malawi

The study was conducted in the Lake Malawi National Park located in the Southwest Arm of Lake Malawi. The dataset covers two biodiversity surveys conducted in 2021 and 2025 on the Domwe, Mumbo and Thumbi West Islands. The park is located in Chembe Enclave Village in Cape Maclear. Two sampling sites on opposite sides of the islands were selected making it a total of 6 sampling stations.

At each site, line transects parallel to the shoreline were set at 3m, 12m and 20m deep. Along each transect, eight quadrats measuring 2 m x 2 m (4m2) were set. These were measured using a tape measure and their edges demarcated with painted concrete bricks for ease of tracing. The GPS coordinates collected in the initial survey were used in locating the 2025 study sites and transects.

A day after setting the quadrats, the resident fish within the quadrats were enumerated and recorded down to species level (where possible) by six experienced SCUBA divers cum taxonomists. Formal names were used for describing species, while species lacking a formal description were assigned informal species names as provided by Konings (1991).