THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MRAC 98-27-P-1, holotype, male, 46.6 mm SL; Tanzania: small pool at the northwestern side of the road from Morogoro to Kisaki, 10 km southwest of Dutumi village and about 17 km northeast of Kisaki, (approx. 07°24' S, 37°43' E); I. F. N. Sainthouse, B. R. Watters & R. H. Wildekamp, 8. Jun 1995 [field code: Kisaki TAN 95-5].

MRAC 98-27-P-2-4 (3)

​Mittelgroße Nothobranchius-Art der Untergattung Adiniops, die sich von allen anderen bekannten Arten dieser Gruppe in der Färbung des Männchens, mit Ausnahme von N. rubripinnis, durch eine deutlich rote Tönung des Kopfes unterscheidet. Von N. rubripinnis ist N. flammicomantis durch die orangefarbenen, fadenförmig verlängerten vorderen beiden Drittel der Afterflossenstrahlen und das gebänderte Muster der Rücken- und Afterflosse der Männchen zu unterscheiden (Wildekamp et al., 1998).

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Nothobranchius species of average size of the subgenus Adinops, which differs from all other known species of this group, except from N. rubripinnis, by the obvious red tone of the head in male. Nothobranchius flammicomantis can be distinguished from N. rubripinnis by the orange coloured filamentous extended anterior two thirds of the anal fin rays and banded pattern of the dorsal and anal fin of the male [translated from (Wildekamp et al., 1998)].

Subgenus: Adiniops

Species group: N. guentheri group

Nothobranchius flammicomantis was established as a species by Wildekamp, Watters & Sainthouse in 1998, and that status has been accorded by all authors since.

"Tansania: kleiner Tümpel an der nordwestlichen Seite der Straße von Morogoro nach Kisaki, zehn Kilometer südwestlich vom Dorf Dutumi und ungefähr 17 Kilometer nordöstlich von Kisaki, 07°24' S, 37°43' E" (Wildekamp et al., 1998).

[Tanzania: small pool at the northwestern side of the road from Morogoro to Kisaki, 10 km southwest of Dutumi village and about 17 km northeast of Kisaki, approx. 07°24' S, 37°43' E).]

This species is endemic to freshwater habitats in coastal Tanzania. It is known from seasonal pools and marshes swamps from the Ruvu River drainage, eastern Tanzania.

Coastal East Africa (564)

11–175 m

Water parameters (Wildekamp et al., 1998):

Water temperature: 24.0–28.0 °C

pH: 7.43–7.58

Conductivity: 280–620 µS

N. melanospilus - 80%

N. janpapi - 40%

N. eggersi - 40%

N. annectens - 20%

N. ocellatus - 20%

This species has a semi-annual life cycle;

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

Maximum size reported: 46.6 mm SL (MRAC 98-27-P-1, holotype, male)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 20 (Wildekamp et al., 1998), NF = 38, karyotype structure 18m+2st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

Diploid chromosome number and karyotype structure unique in the genus.

The specific name is formed from flamma (in Latin for fire-like) and comans (in Latin for long hairs), in reference to the orange filamentous extensions on the anal-fin rays.

Vulnerable B1ab(iii) (Nagy & Watters, 2019);

Previous assessment: Vulnerable D2 (Hanssens & Snoeks, 2006)

    Wildekamp, R. H., B. R. Watters & I. F. N. Sainthouse. 1998. Eine neue Nothobranchius-Art aus Tansania (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae). Die Aquarien und Terrarien Zeitschrift, 51 (12): 780–784. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius flammicomantis]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius flammicomantis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T60382A47186080. [conservation]

    Watters, B. R., B. Nagy, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill & D. U. Bellstedt. 2020. Redescription of the seasonal killifish species Nothobranchius ocellatus and description of a related new species Nothobranchius matanduensis, from eastern Tanzania (Teleostei: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, IEF-1149, pp. 1–28. [phylogeny]