THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

MRAC B3-14-P-33, male, 37.4 mm SL; Tanzania: shallow roadside pools, on east side of road, 100 m south of the turnoff to the Ndabaka Gate (Serengeti) on the Musoma-Mwanza road, lower Mbalageti River system, (02°11.621' S, 33°52.199' E); B. R. Watters, B. J. Cooper & O. Schmidt, 5 June 2000, [field code: Ndabaka Gate TAN 00-4].

MRAC B3-14-P-34-53 (20)

Nothobranchius sagittae is distinguished from all other members of the N. neumanni species group by the following combination of characters in the male: a relatively elongate body shape, a dorsal profile that is slightly convex, a concave transition between the head and body, a pointed snout, and an upward-directed mouth cleft. The anal fin is red with one or two pale yellow, white or blue-white horizontal bands, a light blue-gray proximal part, and a distinct dark red margin. The caudal fin is usually completely red with a relatively dark marginal band (Wildekamp et al., 2014).

Subgenus: Zononothobranchius

Species group: N. neumanni group

Populations of this species were regarded as N. aff. neumanni in Wildekamp (2004) before morphometric and molecular analyses confirmed it to be a separate species and it was described as Nothobranchius sagittae in Wildekamp et al. 2014.

Tanzania: shallow roadside pools, on east side of road, 100 m south of the turnoff to the Ndabaka Gate (Serengeti) on the Musoma-Mwanza road, lower Mbalageti River system, (02°11.621' S, 33°52.199' E).

This species is endemic to seasonal freshwater habitats in northern Tanzania. It is known from ephemeral pools and swamps in the drainages of the Grumeti and Mbalageti river systems, in the south-eastern Lake Victoria basin in northern Tanzania.

Lake Victoria basin (521)

1142–1226 m

Water parameters (Watters and Nagy personal data) are as follows: temperature of 22–26°C; pH of 6.7–7.6; conductivity of 100–400 µS; and typically turbid (Nagy & Watters, 2019)

N. attenboroughi - 17%

N. serengetiensis - 33%

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: 38.6 mm SL (MRAC B3-14-P-54-59, 6 males)

Not known

The specific name is formed from sagitta (in Latin for arrow), in reference to the relatively pointed head and slender shape of the species.

Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) (Nagy & Watters, 2019)

Previous assessment: Endagered (FishBase team RMCA & Geelhand, 2016)

    Wildekamp, R. H., B. R. Watters & K. M. Shidlovskiy. 2014. Review of the Nothobranchius neumanni species group with descriptions of three new species from Tanzania (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Journal of the American Killifish Association, 47 (1): 2–30. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius sagittae, distribution, phylogeny, systematics]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2018. Fishes that 'fall from the sky with rain'. Pp 59–60 in: C. A. Sayer, L. Máiz-Tomé & W. R. T. Darwall. Freshwater biodiversity in the Lake Victoria Basin: Guidance for species conservation, site protection, climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods. Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. xiv +226pp. [conservation]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2019. Nothobranchius sagittae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T88026479A131472418. [conservation]