THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

SAIAB 190261, holotype, male, 29.8 mm SL; Muhukwa upstream bridge on second tributary south-east of Balama village, Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique (13°25'59.1" S, 38°36'41.2" E); A. Chakona, 05 Mar 2013.

SAIAB 190255 (3)

Nothobranchius balamaensis is most closely related to N. kirki and N. wattersi and is differentiated from congeners by characteristic colour pattern, and molecular data further support its distinctiveness. Nothobranchius balamaensis is distinguished from all other members of the genus by the following unique combination of characters in males: body colouration bright iridescent light blue, with narrow brown-red to orange scale margins creating an irregular reticulated pattern; anal and caudal fins overall orange, darker in basal and proximal zones, grading through medial zone to lighter orange in distal zone and devoid of distinctive markings or banding; dorsal fin with marbled pattern in proximal region comprising irregular brown-red markings on yellow-orange background, distinct striated pattern parallel to fin rays in medial and distal zones with inter-ray membrane distinctive black between first 4–5 rays; anal fin shape mildly trapezoidal (after Bragança et al. 2022).

​Specimens of this species were first collected in 2013. The species was retrieved in van der Merwe et al. (2021) as a phylogenetically distinct lineage, referred to as Nothobranchius spec. Northern Mozambique. Nothobranchius balamaensis was established as a species by Bragança & Chakona in Bragança et al. 2022.

Mozambique: Cabo Delgado Province: south-east of Balama village (13°25'59.1" S, 38°36'41.2" E).

This species is endemic to north-eastern Mozambique. It is known only from the type locality, in the seasonal Naconha River, a sub-catchment of the upper Montepuez River system in the Balama region of the Cabo Delgado Province, north-eastern Mozambique (Bragança et al. 2022).

Coastal East Africa (564)

537 m

The type locality comprised a pool in a seasonal stream course (< 1 m in depth) with turbid and slow flowing water. The substratum was predominantly fine mud interspersed with sections of fine sand. The riverbanks were covered by grass with remnants of Miombo vegetation. Nothobranchius balamaensis occurred syntopically with N. makondorum, and the cyprinid Enteromius litamba (Bragança et al. 2022).

Nothobranchius makondorum

​Not known. Embryonic development should not differ significantly to that of the syntopic species N. makondorum.

Maximum size reported: 29.8 mm SL (SAIAB 190261, holotype, male)

Not known

The specific name refers to the Balama region in the Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique, where the type locality for the species is located.

Endangered B1ab(iii) (Nagy & Watters, 2023)

    van der Merwe, P.  D. W., F. P. D. Cotterill, M. Kandziora, B. R. Watters, B. Nagy, T. Genade,  T. J. Flügel,  D. S. Svendsen, & D. U. Bellstedt. 2020. Genomic Fingerprints of Palaeogeographic History: The tempo and mode of Rift tectonics across tropical Africa has shaped the diversification of the killifish genus Nothobranchius (Teleostei:  Cyprinodontiformes), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 158: 106988. [phylogeny as N. sp. Northern Mozambique]

    Bragança, P. H. N., D. U. Bellstedt, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill, B. R. Watters & A. Chakona. 2022. Nothobranchius balamaensis (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of annual killifish from northern Mozambique. Zootaxa 5174 (5): 508–524. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius balamaensis]

    Nagy, B. & Watters, B. R. 2023. Nothobranchius balamaensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T219673874A219673884