THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MRAC B4-019-P-0001, holotype, male, 31.9 mm SL; DR Congo: Katanga Province: lower Lufira drainage: ephemeral swamps of the Mufufya River, about 2.5 km north of Pande village, 10°36.481' S, 26°50.567' E); B. Nagy, E. Abwe & B. Katemo Manda, 5 Apr 2013 [field code: CD 13-7].

MRAC B4-019-P-0004-11 (8), MRAC B4-019-P-0002-3 (2)

Nothobranchius flagrans is distinguished from all other species of the N. brieni species group by the unique combination of the following characters in males: anal and caudal fins with broad orange-red submarginal band and distinct dark grey distal margin; dorsal fin with red-brown submarginal band and distinct light blue distal margin; prepelvic length 49.5-52.6 % SL; head depth 86-92 % HL; and caudal peduncle length 151-161 % of its depth (Nagy, 2014).

Subgenus: Zononothobranchius

Species group: N. brieni group

Nothobranchius flagrans was established as a species by Nagy in 2014, and that status has been accorded by all authors since.

DR Congo: Katanga Province: lower Lufira drainage: ephemeral swamps of the Mufufya River, about 2.5 km north of Pande village; (10°36.481' S, 26°50.567' E).

This species is endemic to freshwater habitats in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is known only from the type locality, ephemeral marsh of the Mufufya River, tributary of the Dikuluwe system in the lower Lufira River drainage in Katanga province of Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Upper Lualaba (545)

1140–1150 m

Personal observation at type locality:

Water temperature: 26.2 °C

pH: 6.83

TDS: 230 ppm

Conductivity: 460 µS

None

This species has an annual life cycle.

Embryonic development under captive conditions in peat moss is three to four months at room temperature.

Maximum size reported 38.6 mm SL (MRAC 019-P-0002, male, paratype)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 36, NF = 48, karyotype structure 10m+2sm+24st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

Karyotype structure unique in the genus.

The specific name flagrans is a Latin participial adjective meaning flaming, blazing, burning, glowing and is given with reference to the vivid orange-red colour of the submarginal bands of the anal and caudal fins in males.

Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) (Nagy & Watters, 2019)

    Nagy, B. 2014. A la redécouverte du légendaire Nothobranchius brieni. Association Killiphile Francophone de Belgique, Killi-Contact, 42 (1): 2–15. [collecting as Nothobranchius hassoni (not Valdesalici & Wildekamp, 2004) Kabungu River CD 13-7]

    Nagy, B. 2014. Über die Wiederentdeckung des legendären Nothobranchius brieni. Deutsche Killifisch Gemeinschaft Journal, 46 (3) 57–66. [collecting as Nothobranchius hassoni (not Valdesalici & Wildekamp, 2004) Kabungu River CD 13-7]

    Nagy, B. 2014. Nothobranchius flagrans, a new species of annual killifish from the Lufira drainage, Democratic Republic of Congo (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25 (3): 259–276. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius flagrans; systematics in N. brieni species group]

    Nagy, B., F. P. D. Cotterill & D. U. Bellstedt. 2016. Nothobranchius sainthousei, a new species of annual killifish from the Luapula River drainage in northern Zambia (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 27 (3): 233–254. [phylogeny]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius flagrans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T131470757A131470766. [conservation]