THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MRAC A4-039-P-0081, holotype, male, 36.4 mm SL; Mozambique: Chokwe to Massingir road, 101 km SE of Massingir, Mazimechopes River system, (24°24.7' S, 32°46.6' E); B. Watters, R. Wildekamp, B. Cooper, J. Jordaan, J. Bornman & J. Ippel, 10 Apr 2004, [field code: Mazimechopes River MZ 04-2].

MRAC 04-039-P-0022 (1), 04-039-P-0066-0072 (2), 04-039-P-0082-0083 (2)

Nothobranchius pienaari is distinguished from other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: male with colouration consisting of alternating blue-green to grey-green and dark red-brown to almost black scale margins and oblique bars on body and dorsal and anal fins, dark brown spotted basal half of caudal fin, and orange subterminal and black terminal band (Shidlovskiy et al., 2010).

Subgenus: Nothobranchius s.s.

Species group: N. rachovii group

Nothobranchius pienaari was established as a species by Shidlovskiy, Watters and Wildekamp in 2010, and that status has since been accepted by all authors. When first observed in 1968, populations of this species were referred to as the black form of N. rachovii until Shidlovskiy et al. (2010) published the redescription of this latter species, restricting its distribution to the lower Pungwe, lower Zambezi and lower Shire rivers, and separating the ‘black form’ populations into a new species as N. pienaari.

Mozambique: Chokwe to Massingir road, 101 km SE of Massingir, Mazimechopes River system, (24°24.7' S, 32°46.6' E).

This species is endemic to seasonal freshwater habitats in southern Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa. It is known from temporary pools and swamps in the floodplains of several rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean, primarily the Pungwe, Gorongose, Save, Chefu, Limpopo and Mazimechopes rivers in Mozambique, and the source region of the Mazimechopes system in north-eastern South Africa.

Zambezian Lowveld (576)

7–376 m

Water parameters based on Watters (personal data) are as follows: temperature of 24–30°C; pH of 6.1–7.4; conductivity of 40–260 µS; and typically turbid (Nagy & Watters, 2019).

N. furzeri - 40%

N. kadleci - 3%

N. orthonotus - 55%

This species has an annual life cycle.

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

Maximum size reported: 38.5 mm SL (MRAC A4-039-P-0082-0083)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 34 (Shidlovskiy et al., 2010), NF = 42, karyotype structure 6m+2sm+26st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

​Karyotype structure unique in the genus.

The specific name is given in honor of U. de V. Pienaar, retired biologist of the Kruger National Park, Republic of South Africa, and discoverer of Nothobranchius species, in honour of his efforts to protect and conserve these populations.

Least Concern (Nagy & Watters, 2019)

    Shidlovskiy, K. M., B. R. Watters & R. H. Wildekamp. 2010. Notes on the annual killifish species Nothobranchius rachovii (Cyprinodontiformes; Nothobranchiidae) with the description of two new species. Zootaxa, 2724: 37–57. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius pienaari, distribution, phylogeny]

    Watters, B. R., B. Nagy, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill & D. U. Bellstedt. 2019. Review of the Nothobranchius taeniopygus species group from central and western Tanzania with descriptions of five new species and redescription of Nothobranchius taeniopygus (Teleostei: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, IEF-1110, pp. 1–41. [phylogeny]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius pienaari. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T53904430A58340384. [conservation]