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Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve
The Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve (Afrikaans for war-gorge), covers and is located 10 km south of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Geography The Oorlogskloof River gorge runs along the eastern border of the reserve; the western part is bordered by the Knersvlakte. Numerous streams dissect the mountainous terrain, resulting in gorges, 36 natural pools and waterfalls throughout the reserve. There are also examples of rock art in caves found beside some of the plateaus of the reserve. History The reserve got its name from a battle that took place between indigenous Khoi people and local farmers in 1739. In 1971 it was declared a nature reserve. In 2012, the Department of Environmental Affairs funded the construction of 10 log cabins that accommodates 15 people each, along with solar panels and septic tanks, pedestrian bridges, stream crossings and 3 boreholes. Alien invasive species like Black Wattle, Port Jackson, Eucalyptus and Prosopis were also r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, estimates circa 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language. An estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin with adopted words from other languages including German and the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Differences with Dutch include a more analytic-type morphology and grammar, and some pronunciations. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form. About 13.5% of the South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea Nitida
''Protea nitida'', commonly called wagon tree, ''waboom'' or ''blousuikerbos'', is a large, slow-growing ''Protea'' endemism, endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few ''Protea'' species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable timber. Appearance ''Protea nitida'' is a slow-growing tree, with very thick white-grey bark, that varies considerably in height. It is normally about 5 meters tall, but in good conditions it may reach a height of up to 10 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1 meter. The young leaves are crimson, but they become a bluish, sea-green colour in later life. These leaves are described as "oblong to elliptic", "hairless" and "leathery". Large, bisexual flower heads appear all through the year, especially in winter, and bear sweet nectar. Small nuts are released about a year after flowering. Throughout their distribution, a dwarf, multi-stemmed form with narrow green leaves also occurs—at one point regarded as a distinct species, ''Protea reticu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freshwater Bivalve
Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs live in the sea, but in addition, a number of different families live in fresh water (and in some cases, also in brackish water). These families belong to two different evolutionary lineages (freshwater mussels and freshwater clams), and the two groups are not closely related. Freshwater bivalves have a simple morphology that varies among taxa, and are distributed around most regions of the world. Species in the two groups vary greatly in size. Some pea clams (''Pisidium'' species) have an adult size of only 3 mm. In contrast, one of the largest species of freshwater bivalves is the swan mussel, in the family Unionidae; it can grow to a length of 20 cm, and usually lives in lakes or slow rivers. Freshwater pearl mussels are econo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluegill
The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands east of the Rocky Mountains. It is the type species of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfish), from the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes, crappies and black basses) in the order Perciformes (perch-like fish). Bluegills can grow up to long and about . While their color can vary from population to population, they typically have a very distinctive coloring, with deep blue and purple on the face and gill cover, dark olive-colored bands down the side, and a fiery orange to yellow belly. They are omnivorous and will consume anything they can fit in their mouth, but mostly feed on small aquatic insects and baitfishes. The fish are important prey for bass, other larger sunfish, northern pike and muskellunge, walleye, trout, herons, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (fish)
Bass () is a name shared by many species of fish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species, all belonging to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes. The word ''bass'' comes from Middle English , meaning 'perch'. Types * The black basses, such as the Choctaw bass (''Micropterus haiaka''), Guadalupe bass (''M. treculii''), largemouth bass (''M. salmoides''), smallmouth bass (''M. dolomieu''), and spotted bass (''M. punctulatus''), belong to the sunfish family Centrarchidae. * The temperate basses, such as the European seabass (''Dicentrarchus labrax''), striped bass (''Morone saxatilis'') and white bass (''M. chrysops''), belong to the family Moronidae. * The Asian seabasses, such as the Japanese seabass (''Lateolabrax japonicus'') and Blackfin seabass (''L. latus''), belong to the family Lateolabracidae. Other species known as bass Many species are also known as basses, including: * The Australian bass, ''Macquaria novemaculeata'', is a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tilapia Sparrmanii
''Tilapia sparrmanii'', the banded tilapia, or vlei kurper, is a widespread and adaptable cichlid fish that is found in warmer freshwater habitats of southern Africa. They prefer water with ample plant cover, and occur naturally as far north as DR Congo and Tanzania. They have been introduced locally in the northern hemisphere. Younger banded tilapia feed on crustaceans and insect larvae, while the adults feed on terrestrial and aquatic plants and other debris. They undertake local migrations and may shoal before and during spawning time. They guard their own eggs, and although they may move eggs or fry in the mouth, they are not known to be actual mouthbrooders like several other tilapia species. This species can reach a length of TL and is an important foodfish. The identity of the person honoured in the specific name is uncertain but it is probably the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman (1748-1820) who was in the Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sawfin
The sawfin (''Pseudobarbus serra''), also known as Clanwilliam sawfin, is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is placed with the South African redfins in ''Pseudobarbus''. It is tetraploid. Its closest living relative is probably the Cape whitefish (''P. capensis'').de Graaf ''et al.'' (2007) This sizeable cyprinid can grow to over long and weigh more than . Distribution and ecology It is endemic to the Western Cape Province of South Africa, where it was formerly widespread in the Olifants River and its tributaries. Its range has decreased throughout most of the 20th century, and by now it is apparently only found in the upper Olifants River as well as the Biedou, Doring, Driehoeks, Jan Dissels, Oorlogskloof, Ratels and Tra Tra Rivers. It is rather euryoecious, inhabiting a wide variety of small and large rivers. While young fish are common in pools in the foothills, adults will move further down to where the rivers enter the coastal plain and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chubbyhead Barb
The chubbyhead barb (''Enteromius anoplus'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the genus ''Enteromius''. The fish is found throughout South Africa in a variety of aquatic environments. The species is notable for its two breeding seasons, which allows it to flourish despite a short lifespan. Identification The females () are larger than males (). They have blunt heads with a small mouth. A few beards reach down to the mouth. During the breeding season the males are brightly golden coloured, otherwise all the fish are a greyish green on the back with a small spot on the tail fin. Distribution The fish is widespread in rivers from the Highveld down to KwaZulu-Natal, former Transkei and the middle and upper parts of the Orange River. The species is also found in the bigger rivers of the Western and Eastern Cape. Habitat The fish prefers cooler water to live in and occur in a variety of habitats, from large lakes and rivers to small streams. They keep to dark waters where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clanwilliam Sandfish
The Clanwilliam sandfish (''Labeo seeberi'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in the Olifants River system in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri .... It is one of South Africa's most threatened freshwater fish.Getaway Magazine, ''Saving South Africa's most threatened fish'' by Chloe Cowley, April 2022 References Labeo Freshwater fish of South Africa Fish described in 1911 Taxa named by John Dow Fisher Gilchrist Taxa named by William Wardlaw Thompson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Labeoninae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clanwilliam Yellowfish
The Clanwilliam yellowfish (''Labeobarbus seeberi'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It has long been placed in ''Barbus'', the "wastebin genus" for barbs, by default; however, the species is increasingly being restored to related yellowfish genus ''Labeobarbus'' which seems a much more appropriate placement. It is hexaploid like the other yellowfish, among which it is more closely related to the smallscale yellowfish (''L. polylepis'') than to the largescale yellowfish (''L. marequensis''). As its relatives, this is a large species. They are silvery with blotchy vertical barring on the sides when young, and become light brown all over when adult. Males turn golden-yellow in the breeding season, and the common name refers to this. Distribution and ecology It is only found in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, where it is found in tributaries of the Olifants River, namely the Doring River, and the Biedou, Boskloof, Driehoeks, Groot, Jan Dissel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Harrier-hawk
The African harrier-hawk, harrier hawk or gymnogene (''Polyboroides typus'') is a bird of prey. It is about in length. It breeds in most of Africa south of the Sahara. The only other member of the genus is the allopatric Madagascar harrier-hawk (''Polyboroides radiatus''). Description left, 165px, Adult hunting at a weaver colony in Etosha National Park, Namibia The African harrier-hawk is a medium-sized raptor. The upperparts, head and breast are pale grey. The belly is white with fine dark barring. The broad wings are pale grey with a black trailing edge fringed with a narrow white line. The tail is black with a single broad white band. There is a bare facial patch of variable colour, usually red or yellow. Genders are similar, but young birds have pale brown instead of grey, and dark brown replacing black. An unusual trait of this species is the double-jointed knees it possesses, which enable it to reach into otherwise inaccessible holes and cracks for prey. A comparable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Stork
The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, the adult black stork has mainly black plumage, with white underparts, long red legs and a long pointed red beak. A widespread but uncommon species, it breeds in scattered locations across Europe (predominantly in Portugal and Spain, and central and eastern parts), and east across the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean. It is a long-distance migrant, with European populations wintering in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asian populations in the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west. An isolated, non-migratory, population occurs in Southern Africa. Unlike the closely related white stork, the black sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
