WildNothos
THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE
INTRO - DISCOVERY & EARLY HISTORY - DISTRIBUTION & DISPERSAL - ECOLOGY & BIOTOPE - LIFE HISTORY & REPRODUCTION - MAINTENANCE & BREEDING - TAXONOMY & SYSTEMATICS
Everything began in 1843 when Professor Dr Wilhelm Carl Hartwig Peters, during his scientific research trip in Mozambique, discovered a new and previously unknown fish species …
Discovery and Early History of Nothobranchius Fishes
The history of Nothobranchius began in the nineteenth century, when European naturalists exploring Africa started collecting and describing the continent’s remarkable diversity of freshwater fishes. Among their discoveries were small, brightly coloured fishes inhabiting temporary pools, creatures whose unusual biology would only gradually become understood.
The first species was described by the German zoologist Wilhelm Peters in 1844, following his expedition to Mozambique the previous year. Over the decades that followed, further discoveries across eastern and southern Africa revealed an increasingly diverse group of fishes. Initially known mainly from preserved museum specimens, Nothobranchius gradually attracted the attention of naturalists and aquarists, whose observations helped uncover the remarkable adaptations that allow these fishes to survive in habitats that periodically dry out.
The story of their discovery is closely intertwined with the history of African exploration, the development of zoological research and the gradual recognition of one of the most distinctive life cycles among freshwater fishes.
The First Discovery
In 1842, the young German zoologist Wilhelm Carl Hartwig Peters embarked on an expedition to Africa, commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia to investigate its wildlife. After a detour through Angola, he reached Mozambique in June 1843 and conducted much of his research along the lower Zambezi River, between the town of Tete and the river’s delta.
During his extensive zoological collections, Peters recorded 43 fish species. Among them was a small fish discovered in seasonal pools near Quelimane, north of the Zambezi estuary. In 1844, he described it as Cyprinodon orthonotus in a German scientific journal.
Peters later established the genus Nothobranchius and published a more detailed account of the species under its new name, Nothobranchius orthonotus, in his major work on the natural history of Mozambique, published in 1868. He subsequently became director of the Zoological Museum of the University of Berlin and produced more than 400 scientific publications covering a wide range of animal groups.
The name Nothobranchius derives from the Greek words nothos, meaning false, and branchion, meaning gill. It refers to the open line of sensory pores forming the preopercular neuromast system, which gives the impression of an additional gill opening.
Peters also recorded the local name anamolúgo and remarked that the fish made an excellent dish when fried. This observation may surprise modern enthusiasts, who prize these small, jewel-like fishes for their colours rather than their culinary value.
Explorers and Early Collections
The first decades following Peters’s discovery brought further collections from the African coast. These were often made during expeditions whose primary objectives were geographical exploration, scientific research or the expansion of European colonial influence.
One notable figure was Dr John Kirk, a Scottish physician and naturalist who accompanied David Livingstone on his second Zambezi expedition from 1858 to 1864. In June 1863, while waiting for a ship at Quelimane before returning to Europe, Kirk collected additional Nothobranchius specimens from the same region where Peters had worked two decades earlier.
Other early collections came from Zanzibar and the neighbouring mainland. In 1857, Sir Robert Lambert Playfair collected specimens near the Sultan of Oman’s palace on Zanzibar and later near Pangani. At the time, N. orthonotus was the only known species of the genus, and these specimens were initially identified as belonging to it.
These early discoveries took place during a period of growing European interest in the geography and natural history of East Africa. Zanzibar served as an important departure point for expeditions into the interior, while the search for the source of the Nile brought explorers to some of the continent’s great lakes. Although these geographical investigations were not primarily concerned with Nothobranchius, they helped establish the routes and scientific networks through which further discoveries would be made.
Collecting specimens was far from easy. Expeditions depended on porters, caravans and sailing vessels, and specimens had to survive long journeys before reaching European museums. The pneumatic tyre, which would eventually transform land transport, was not invented until 1887.
The Expansion of the Genus
During the late nineteenth century, the number of known Nothobranchius species began to increase. Many discoveries were made during zoological expeditions in what was then German East Africa, which included present-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
In 1888, the German zoologist Franz Stuhlmann collected Nothobranchius specimens on Zanzibar. Georg Pfeffer subsequently described the species as Fundulus guentheri in 1893, naming it in honour of the German zoologist Albert Günther. It was later transferred to the genus Nothobranchius.
Stuhlmann also participated in an expedition with Emin Pasha in 1889–1890. The expedition produced several important fish collections from what is now Tanzania. Near present-day Ilonga, Stuhlmann collected specimens of a species later described as Fundulus melanospilus. The expedition also reached Lake Chaya, where the water had almost completely disappeared, leaving a few isolated pools among dense reeds and elephant grass. Fish collected there were later described as Nothobranchius taeniopygus.
Further discoveries followed. In 1892, Stuhlmann collected another species near Tschangarra, although its formal description as Nothobranchius robustus did not appear until 1935.
Meanwhile, specimens from Mombasa in present-day Kenya reached the British Museum in 1891. They were initially identified as Fundulus guentheri, but subsequent research showed that N. guentheri occurs on Zanzibar, and the mainland specimens were probably Nothobranchius elongatus.
Another German explorer, Oscar Neumann, collected a new species in 1893 while travelling between Kwa Mtoro and Tisso in present-day Tanzania. The species was later described as Fundulus neumanni, commemorating its collector.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the known distribution of the genus had expanded considerably. Discoveries in different regions also revealed that similar-looking fishes from separate localities could represent distinct species, a recognition that would become increasingly important as the diversity of the genus was investigated.
The early twentieth century brought further discoveries from a variety of habitats across East Africa.
In 1895, the Italian explorer and naturalist Captain Vittorio Bottego collected a new species near the Egertha monolith in what is now Somalia. His expedition had been searching for water during a period of intense drought, and the fish was found in temporary ponds near local springs. It was described two years later as Fundulus microlepis.
In 1904, Julius Vosseler collected specimens between Tanga and Mombo in present-day Tanzania. These later formed the basis of the description of Nothobranchius vosseleri in 1924.
During the Swedish Kilimanjaro–Meru expedition of 1905–1906, Yngve Sjöstedt’s team collected specimens of another species in a cocoa plantation near Tanga. The fish was described as Fundulus palmqvisti in 1907, in honour of Gustaf Palmqvist, who had financed the expedition.
By this time, several species had been described, although the classification of the group remained unsettled. Many were initially assigned to the broadly defined genus Fundulus, reflecting the limited understanding of the diversity and relationships of these fishes. Their subsequent reassignment to Nothobranchius helped establish the genus as a distinct group.
From Museum Specimens to Living Fishes
For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, knowledge of Nothobranchius depended on preserved specimens held in European museums. Few fish survived the long journey from Africa, and those that arrived alive were difficult to maintain and breed.
Transport conditions were primitive. Fish could spend weeks or months aboard merchant ships, often in small containers with little opportunity for adequate care. Consequently, the early scientific descriptions were based largely on preserved material. Colouration, behaviour, sexual differences and the fishes’ remarkable adaptations to seasonal habitats remained poorly understood.
The situation began to change in the early twentieth century, when aquarists reported successful breeding attempts. Around 1914, German aquaristic publications described how Nothobranchius guentheri, then still known as Fundulus guentheri, could be spawned over sand. The eggs were collected and incubated in water, and fry appeared after several weeks, although many developed abnormally as belly-sliders.
In 1925, vividly coloured specimens of Nothobranchius rachovii reached Hamburg from Beira, in present-day Mozambique. Some were kept by the German aquarist Arthur Rachow, while others were displayed at the Berlin Aquarium. Most of the imported fish soon died, but preserved specimens were sent to the Zoological Museum in Berlin, where Ernst Ahl recognised and described the species in 1926.
These early experiences highlighted both the fragility of the fishes and the unusual nature of their reproduction. Although aquarists gradually learned how to maintain and breed some species, their natural life cycle remained incompletely understood.
The First Insights into Annual Life Cycles
A major advance came from observations of Nothobranchius in their natural habitats. In 1923, the Italian naturalist Saverio Patrizi collected a species near the Jubba River in southern Somalia. His field notes indicated that the fish inhabited pools that dried out completely during the dry season, an observation that anticipated later understanding of the annual life cycle.
In 1940, the biologist Frederik L. Vanderplank published an important account of Nothobranchius in the wild. Working in the drylands south of Lake Victoria, he studied shallow, rain-fed depressions known locally as mbugas, where he found fishes belonging to the Nothobranchius taeniopygus complex.
Vanderplank documented how the eggs survived the dry season in the mud, hatching when the rains returned. The fish grew rapidly, reproduced and completed their life cycle before the temporary pools dried out again. He also advised aquarists to imitate the natural wet and dry cycles when attempting to breed these fishes in captivity.
These observations helped establish the connection between the fishes’ biology and the seasonal wetlands they inhabit. What had begun with the discovery of preserved specimens was developing into a deeper understanding of their remarkable adaptations to environments that repeatedly alternate between inundation and drought.
Explore the History in Greater Depth
The discovery of Nothobranchius is part of a much larger story of African exploration, scientific research and the gradual recognition of the extraordinary diversity of seasonal freshwater habitats.
In the comprehensive reference book: Nagy & Watters - Fishes of the Genus Nothobranchius, this history is traced in greater depth, placing the discoveries of individual species within the broader development of our understanding of the genus, its biology, ecology and diversity.
Explore the book on the Publications page.