THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MRAC B2-09-P-1, holotype, male, 37.7 mm SL, pond on left side of the road from Kabungo to Iloba, Karira stream, Katuma river drainage, Tanzania, 06°22.061' S, 30° 56.161' E, 21 May 2011, K. Kardashev and I. Ivanova, [field code: Mpanda K 2011-25].

MRAC B2-09-P-2-5 (4, 1 c&s), MSNG 56889 (1)

Nothobranchius kardashevi males are characterized by light blue scales with a broad irregularly reticulated pattern on the body forming oblique bars in bright red. The head and dorsum has a vivid bright red colouration; the anal fin is yellow or blue; both the dorsal and anal fins have a pattern of large vivid red spots; the head is rounded, with a dorsal profile that is slightly concave to nearly straight, and convex from the nape to the end of the dorsal fin base; the cephalic squamation is variable. It differs from other members of the N. ugandensis species group by a spotted caudal fin (after Valdesalici, 2012).

​Subgenus: Zononothobranchius

Species group: N. ugandensis group

Nothobranchius kardashevi was established as a species by Valdesalici in 2012, and that status has since been accepted by all authors.

Tanzania: pond on left side of the road from Kabungo to Iloba, Karira stream, Katuma river drainage, (06°22.061'S, 30°56.161'E).

This species is endemic to seasonal freshwater habitats in western Tanzania. It is known from a large marshland that covers about 50 km from Kabungo to Sibwesa, and belongs to the Katuma River drainage, western Tanzania.

Lake Tanganyika (542)

1005–1023 m

N. ivanovae - 100%

This species has an annual life cycle.​​

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

Maximum size reported: 37.7 mm SL (MRAC B2-09-P-1, holotype, male)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 36, NF = 52, karyotype structure 6m+10sm+20st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

Karyotype structure unique in the genus.

The specific name is dedicated to friend, aquarist, collector, and discoverer of the species, Kiril Kardashev from Dupnitsa, Bulgaria.

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

    Valdesalici, S. 2012. Nothobranchius kardashevi and Nothobranchius ivanovae (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae): two new annual killifishes from the Katuma River drainage, western Tanzania. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, 18 (4): 191–198. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius kardashevi]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius kardashevi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T53903541A58340349. [conservation]

    Nagy, B., B. R. Watters, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill & D. U. Bellstedt. 2020. Review of the Nothobranchius ugandensis species group from the inland plateau of eastern Africa with descriptions of six new species (Teleostei: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, IEF-1129, pp. 1-53. [phylogeny]