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Nothobranchs
Nothobranchius
Nothobranchius, known as nothobranchs or simply nothos, is a genus of small, freshwater killifish, classified in the family Nothobranchiidae in the order Cyprinodontiformes. There are about a hundred species in the genus, many with very small distributions. They are primarily native to East Africa from Sudan to northern South Africa, whereas a dozen species are found in the upper Congo River Basin, with the greatest species richness being in Tanzania.
Nothobranchius typically inhabit ephemeral pools that are filled only during the monsoon season, and show extreme life-history adaptations to survive the dry season. When their habitats dry up, the adult fish die and the eggs survive encased in the clay during the dry season. The embryos survive the dry season by entering diapause, facilitated by their specialized eggs that have a very hard chorion and are resistant to desiccation and hypoxia. These species reach maturity very quickly once diapause is broken and have a very short life span; one species, Nothobranchius furzeri, reaches maturity in 17 days and seldom lives beyond 6 months.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 100 known species
Redtail Notho
speciesNothobranchius guentheri
Bluefin Notho
speciesNothobranchius rachovii
Orchid Nothobranch
speciesNothobranchius eggersi
African Turquoise Killifish
speciesNothobranchius furzeri
Nothobranchius derhami
speciesNothobranchius derhami
black-spotted nothobranch
speciesNothobranchius melanospilus
Nothobranchius makondorum
speciesNothobranchius makondorum
Spotted Killifish
speciesNothobranchius orthonotus
Kafue Killifish
speciesNothobranchius kafuensis
Nothobranchius virgatus
speciesNothobranchius virgatus
Nothobranchius korthausae
speciesNothobranchius korthausae
Southern Rainbow Killifish
speciesNothobranchius pienaari
Gorongosa Killifish
speciesNothobranchius kadleci
Nothobranchius patrizii
speciesNothobranchius patrizii
Ruby Killi
speciesNothobranchius rubripinnis
Nothobranchius foerschi
speciesNothobranchius foerschi
Nothobranchius geminus
speciesNothobranchius geminus
Red Victoria Nothobranch
speciesNothobranchius robustus
Nothobranchius janpapi
speciesNothobranchius janpapi
Nothobranchius jubbi
speciesNothobranchius jubbi
Nothobranchius angelae
speciesNothobranchius angelae
Uganda Nothobranch
speciesNothobranchius ugandensis
Nothobranchius ottoschmidti
speciesNothobranchius ottoschmidti
Nothobranchius sonjae
speciesNothobranchius sonjae
Nothobranchius dubieensis
speciesNothobranchius dubieensis
Nothobranchius kilomberoensis
speciesNothobranchius kilomberoensis
Nothobranchius kirki
speciesNothobranchius kirki
Nothobranchius krammeri
speciesNothobranchius krammeri
Nothobranchius kwalensis
speciesNothobranchius kwalensis
Northern Rainbow Killifish
speciesNothobranchius krysanovi
Nothobranchius lourensi
speciesNothobranchius lourensi
Nothobranchius lucius
speciesNothobranchius lucius
Nothobranchius luekei
speciesNothobranchius luekei
Nothobranchius matanduensis
speciesNothobranchius matanduensis
Nothobranchius malaissei
speciesNothobranchius malaissei
Nothobranchius microlepis
speciesNothobranchius microlepis
Nothobranchius milvertzi
speciesNothobranchius milvertzi
Nothobranchius moameensis
speciesNothobranchius moameensis
Nothobranchius niassa
speciesNothobranchius niassa
Nothobranchius neumanni
speciesNothobranchius neumanni
Nothobranchius nikiforovi
speciesNothobranchius nikiforovi
Nothobranchius nubaensis
speciesNothobranchius nubaensis
Nothobranchius occultus
speciesNothobranchius occultus
Nothobranchius ocellatus
speciesNothobranchius ocellatus
Nothobranchius palmqvisti
speciesNothobranchius palmqvisti
Nothobranchius oestergaardi
speciesNothobranchius oestergaardi
Nothobranchius polli
speciesNothobranchius polli
Nothobranchius rosenstocki
speciesNothobranchius rosenstocki
Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus
speciesNothobranchius rubroreticulatus
Nothobranchius sagittae
speciesNothobranchius sagittae
Nothobranchius ruudwildekampi
speciesNothobranchius ruudwildekampi
Nothobranchius sainthousei
speciesNothobranchius sainthousei
Nothobranchius seegersi
speciesNothobranchius seegersi
Nothobranchius skeltoni
speciesNothobranchius skeltoni
Nothobranchius serengetiensis
speciesNothobranchius serengetiensis
Nothobranchius symoensi
speciesNothobranchius symoensi
Nothobranchius streltsovi
speciesNothobranchius streltsovi
Nothobranchius taeniopygus
speciesNothobranchius taeniopygus
Nothobranchius taiti
speciesNothobranchius taiti
Nothobranchius torgashevi
speciesNothobranchius torgashevi
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
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Every page naming Nothobranchius in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 90341.