THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MNHN 59.232, lectotype, males, 39.0 mm SL; Koundoul, environs de Fort-Lamy; 18 Oct 1958.

MNHN 59.232 (2) [ex syntypes]

"Notre espèce se rapproche beaucoup de Nothobranchius taeniopygus du Lac Victoria, mais, chez cette espèce, la Dorsale est uniformément pourpre et non bordée de blanc, puis noir comme la Caudale et l'Anale" (Blache et Miton, 1960).

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Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus is characterized by a light blue body colouration with red-brown scale margins, resulting in reticulated pattern over the entire body; the proximal and median parts of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins are light blue with a very dense, irregular, deep red pattern, a light blue subdistal band and a black distal band.

Subgenus: Zononothobranchius

Species group: N. rubroreticulatus group

Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus was established as a species by Blache and Miton in 1960, and that status has since been accepted by all authors. Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus is the type species, by original designation, of the genus Zonothobranchius that was erected by Radda in 1969.

"Tchad: Koundoul, environs de Fort-Lamy."

Chad: Koundoul, in the vicinity of N'Djamena (approx. 11°58' N, 15°09' E)

This species is endemic to seasonal freshwater habitats in northern Cameroon, southern Chad and south-western Sudan. It is known from temporary pools and marshes in the drainage of the southern part of the Lake Chad basin and the Chari River drainage in northern Cameroon and south-western Chad, from the Bahr Salamat drainage in south-eastern Chad, and the Wadi Al Ghallah drainage in south-western Sudan.

Lake Chad (520)

Upper Nile (522)

292–477 m

Water parameters (Watters, unpublished data): temperature of 21–22°C; pH of 6.7–6.8; conductivity of 180–260 µS; and typically turbid.

N. virgatus - 22%

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: 48 mm TL (MNHN 59.235)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 36, NF = 58, karyotype structure 12m+10sm+14st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

Karyotype structure unique in the genus.

The specific name is formed from rubeo (Latin for red) and reticulum (Latin for net), and refers to the reticulated colour pattern on the body of males.

Near Threatened (Nagy & Watters, 2019);

Previous assessment: Data Deficient (Bousso & Lalèyè, 2010)

    Blache, J. & F. Miton. 1960. Poissons nouveaux du bassin du Tchad et du bassin du Mayo Kebbi (suite et fin) III. Cyprinodontidae et Cichlidae. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris, (2) 32 (3): 214–218. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus]

    Valdesalici, S.  2014. Nothobranchius bellemansi and Nothobranchius occultus (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae) two new annual killifish from Sudan. Killi-Data Series, 2014: 4-19. [lectotype designation]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T182765A134761933. [conservation]