The Consequences of Anthropogenic Stressors on Cichlid Fish Communities: Revisiting Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, and Nabugabo Vianny Natugonza, Laban Musinguzi, Mary A. Kishe, Jacco C. van Rijssel, Ole Seehausen, and Richard Ogutu-Ohwayo Abstract Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, and Nabugabo (“the Lake Victoria region”) are remarkable for hosting one of the largest assemblages of cichlid fishes among the African inland lakes. Here, we review the role and severity of anthropogenic and environmental stressors on the cichlid communities in the Lake Victoria region to understand the mechanisms leading to the persistence and resurgence of some of the cichlid fishes. Our review suggests that (1) the native Oreochromis species populations primarily collapsed due to overfishing and that the introduced species and habitat change suppressed their ability to recover; (2) without primary triggers associated with change in the environment and habitat conditions, particularly V. Natugonza (*) Maritime Institute, Busitema University, Namasagali, Uganda e-mail: viannynatugonza@firi.go.ug L. Musinguzi National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja, Uganda e-mail: labanmusinguzi@firi.go.ug M. A. Kishe Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania e-mail: mariakishe@tafiri.go.tz J. C. van Rijssel Wageningen Marine Research, IJmuiden, The Netherlands Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: jacco.vanrijssel@wur.nl O. Seehausen Center of Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland e-mail: Ole.Seehausen@eawag.ch R. Ogutu-Ohwayo African Lakes Network (AFLANET), Jinja, Uganda e-mail: ogutuohwayo@yahoo.com © Springer Nature B.V. 2021 M. E. Abate, D. L. G. Noakes (eds.), The Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of Cichlid Fishes, Fish & Fisheries Series 40, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-2080-7_7 217