THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

SAIAB 73777, holotype, male, 27.7 mm SL; Mozambique: Niassa Reserve, Lukombe River drainage: first river crossing the Mbstamila–Mantondovela road, pools in dry river bed (12°08'17" S, 37°32'03" E); R. Bills, 14 Aug 2003, [field code: N01].

SAIAB 73777 (1), 73791 (1), 73817 (2), 73902 (2), 73905 (3), 73806 (1), 74017 (2)

Nothobranchius niassa belongs to the subgenus Adiniops, which has a preopercular red pattern, wide chevrons on side and a deep red caudal fin without any dark margin in males. It is distinguished from all other species of this subgenus by the unique combination of the following characters in males: dorsal fin rays 15-18, anal fin rays 15-17, light blue iris, light blue dorsal and anal fins with curved red stripes, and red pectoral fin (Valdesalici et al., 2012).

Subgenus: Adiniops

Species group: N. guentheri group

Nothobranchius niassa was established as a species by Valdesalici, Bills, Dorn, Reichwald and Cellerino in 2012.

Mozambique: Niassa Reserve, Lukombe River drainage: first river crossing the Mbstamila–Mantondovela road, pools in dry river bed (12°08'17" S, 37°32'03" E).

This species is endemic to seasonal freshwater habitats in northern Mozambique. It is known from seasonal pools and streams in the Rovuma River drainage in northern Mozambique.

Coastal East Africa (564)

316–484 m

Water parameters at type locality (Valdesalici & Amato, 2011):

Water temparature: about 20 °C

Conductivity: about 100 μS

None

Not known. Embryonic development should not differ significantly to that of N. makondorum.

Maximum size reported: 29.1 mm SL (SAIAB 73902, paratype)

Not known

The specific name is given in reference to the Niassa Reserve, where this new species occurs. A noun in apposition.

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

    Valdesalici, S., R. Bills, A. Dorn, K. Reichwald & A. Cellerino. 2012. Nothobranchius niassa (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of annual killifish from northern Mozambique. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23 (1): 19–28. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius niassa, distribution, phylogeny]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius niassa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T131471671A131471686. [conservation]