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Located in central Africa, Lake Victoria is the third largest freshwater lake in the world at 69,484 km2 of surface area. The lake has a maximum depth of 100 m, a pH of 7.0-9.0, and an average surface temperature of 21-27 C. The cichlid fauna of the lake is comprised almost entirely of endemic Haplochromines and a few Tilapines. The plight of the Lake Victoria Haplochromines (or Mpibi) is well documented. A combination of increasing eutrophication from the human population surrounding the lake and the introduction and expansion of the voracious predator, nile perch (Lates niloticus), has caused widespread reduction and probably extinction of some of the cichlid fauna.
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