Nothobranchius
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Nothobranchius is a genus of small, freshwater killifish, classified in the family Nothobranchiidae<ref name=fishbase/><ref name=Laan2014>van der Laan, R., Eschmeyer, W.N. & Fricke, R. (2014): Family-group names of Recent fishes. Zootaxa, 3882 (2): 1–230.</ref> in the order Cyprinodontiformes. There are about a hundred species in the genus, many with very small distributions.<ref name=fishbase>{{#invoke:Cite taxon|main|fishbase|genus=|species=|subspecies=}}</ref> They are primarily native to East Africa from Sudan to northern South Africa, whereas a dozen species are found in the upper Congo River Basin; the greatest species richness is in Tanzania.
Nothobranchius typically inhabit ephemeral pools that are filled only during the monsoon season, and show extreme life-history adaptations to survive the dry season. When their habitats dry up, the adult fish die and the eggs survive encased in the clay during the dry season. The embryos survive the dry season by entering diapause, facilitated by their specialized eggs that have a very hard chorion and are resistant to desiccation and hypoxia.<ref name=BMC>Alexander Dorn, Zuzana Musilová, Matthias Platzer, Kathrin Reichwald and Alessandro Celler (2014) The strange case of East African annual fishes: aridification correlates with diversification for a savannah aquatic group? BMC Evolutionary Biology 14:210. DOI: 10.1186/s12862-014-0210-3</ref> These species reach maturity very quickly once diapause is broken and have a very short life span; one species, Nothobranchius furzeri, reaches maturity in 17 days and seldom lives beyond 6 months.<ref name=BMC/>
EtymologyEdit
From Greek νοθοσ / nothos: false, spurious, and βράγχια / bránchia: gill.<ref>Eulexis-web - « Le Bailly » 2020: read on line</ref>
SpeciesEdit
File:Nothobranchius korthausae pair.png
Nothobranchius korthausae pair, female in foreground
File:Nothobranchius polli.png
Nothobranchius polli, male
There are currently 96 recognized species in this genus:<ref name=fishbase/>
- Nothobranchius albertinensis Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius albimarginatus Watters, Wildekamp & Cooper, 1998
- Nothobranchius angelae Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2019
- Nothobranchius annectens Watters, Wildekamp & Cooper, 1998
- Nothobranchius attenboroughi Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius balamaensis Bragança & Chakona, 2022
- Nothobranchius bellemansi Valdesalici, 2014<ref name=Valdesalici2014>Valdesalici, S. (2014): Nothobranchius bellemansi and Nothobranchius occultus (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae) two new annual killifish from Sudan. Killi-Data Series, 2014: 4-19.</ref>
- Nothobranchius bojiensis Wildekamp & Haas, 1992 (Boji Plains nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius boklundi Valdesalici, 2010
- Nothobranchius brieni Poll, 1938
- Nothobranchius capriviensis Watters, Wildekamp & Shidlovskiy, 2015 (Caprivi nothobranchius)<ref name=Watters2015>Watters, B.R., Wildekamp, R.H. & Shidlovskiy, K.M. (2015): Description and biogeography of Nothobranchius capriviensis, a new species of annual killifish from the Zambezi Region of Namibia (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Journal of the American Killifish Association, 47 (4-6): 97-133.</ref>
- Nothobranchius cardinalis Watters, Cooper & Wildekamp, 2008 (Cardinal nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius chochamandai Nagy, 2014<ref name=Nagy2014b>Nagy, B. (2014): Nothobranchius chochamandai, a new species of annual killifish from the Luapula drainage, Democratic Republic of Congo (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25 (2): 167-183.</ref>
- Nothobranchius cooperi Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2017
- Nothobranchius derhami Valdesalici & Amato, 2019
- Nothobranchius ditte Nagy, 2018<ref name=Nagy2018>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Nothobranchius eggersi Seegers, 1982
- Nothobranchius elongatus Wildekamp, 1982 (Elongate nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius elucens Nagy, 2021<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Nothobranchius fasciatus Wildekamp & Haas, 1992
- Nothobranchius flagrans Nagy, 2014 <ref name=Nagy2014a>Nagy, B. (2014): Nothobranchius flagrans, a new species of annual killifish from the Lufira drainage, Democratic Republic of Congo (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25 (3): 259-276.</ref>
- Nothobranchius flammicomantis Wildekamp, Watters & Sainthouse, 1998
- Nothobranchius foerschi Wildekamp & Berkenkamp, 1979
- Nothobranchius furzeri Jubb, 1971 (Turquoise killifish)
- Nothobranchius fuscotaeniatus Seegers, 1997
- Nothobranchius geminus Wildekamp, Watters & Sainthouse, 2002
- Nothobranchius guentheri (Pfeffer, 1893) (Red-tail nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius hassoni Valdesalici & Wildekamp, 2004
- Nothobranchius hengstleri Valdesalici, 2007
- Nothobranchius hoermanni Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius insularis Costa, 2017<ref name=Costa2017>Costa, W.J.E.M. (2017): Redescription of Nothobranchius lucius and description of a new species from Mafia Island, eastern Tanzania (Cyprinodontiformes, Aplocheilidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 93 (1): 35-44.</ref>
- Nothobranchius interruptus Wildekamp & Berkenkamp, 1979 (Kikambala nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius itigiensis Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius ivanovae Valdesalici, 2012<ref name=Valdesalici2012b>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.</ref>
- Nothobranchius janpapi Wildekamp, 1977
- Nothobranchius jubbi Wildekamp & Berkenkamp, 1979
- Nothobranchius kadleci Reichard, 2010 <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Nothobranchius kafuensis Wildekamp & Rosenstock, 1989 (Kafue killifish)
- Nothobranchius kardashevi Valdesalici, 2012<ref name=Valdesalici2012b/>
- Nothobranchius kilomberoensis Wildekamp, Watters & Sainthouse, 2002
- Nothobranchius kirki Jubb, 1969 (Red-fin nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius korthausae Meinken, 1973
- Nothobranchius krammeri Valdesalici & Hengstler, 2008
- Nothobranchius krysanovi Shidlovskiy, Watters & Wildekamp, 2010
- Nothobranchius kwalensis W. J. E. M. Costa, 2019
- Nothobranchius lourensi Wildekamp, 1977
- Nothobranchius lucius Wildekamp, Shidlovskiy & Watters, 2009
- Nothobranchius luekei Seegers, 1984
- Nothobranchius makondorum Wildekamp, Shidlovskiy & Watters, 2009
- Nothobranchius malaissei Wildekamp, 1978
- Nothobranchius matanduensis Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius melanospilus (Pfeffer, 1896) (Black-spotted nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius microlepis (Vinciguerra, 1897) (Small-scaled nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius milvertzi Nagy, 2014<ref name=Nagy2014>Nagy, B. (2014): Nothobranchius milvertzi, a new species of killifish from the Lushiba Marsh in the Lake Mweru drainage, Zambia (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 24 (4): 347-360.</ref>
- Nothobranchius mkuziensis (Fowler, 1934)
- Nothobranchius moameensis Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius neumanni (Hilgendorf, 1905)
- Nothobranchius niassa Valdesalici, Bills, Dorn, Reichwald & Cellerino, 2012<ref name=Valdesalici2012>Valdesalici, S., Bills, R., Dorn, A., Reichwald, K. & Cellerino, A. (2012): Nothobranchius niassa (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species of annual killifish from northern Mozambique. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23 (1): 19-28.</ref>
- Nothobranchius nikiforovi Nagy, Watters & Raspopova, 2021
- Nothobranchius nubaensis Valdesalici, Bellemans, Kardashev & Golubtsov, 2009
- Nothobranchius occultus Valdesalici, 2014<ref name=Valdesalici2014/>
- Nothobranchius ocellatus (Seegers, 1985)
- Nothobranchius oestergaardi Valdesalici & Amato, 2011
- Nothobranchius orthonotus (Peters, 1844) (Spotted killifish)
- Nothobranchius ottoschmidti Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2019
- Nothobranchius palmqvisti (Lönnberg, 1907)
- Nothobranchius patrizii (Vinciguerra, 1927) (Blue nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius pienaari Shidlovskiy, Watters & Wildekamp, 2010
- Nothobranchius polli Wildekamp, 1978
- Nothobranchius prognathus Costa, 2019
- Nothobranchius rachovii Ahl, 1926 (Blue-fin nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius robustus Ahl, 1935 (Red victoria nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius rosenstocki Valdesalici & Wildekamp, 2005
- Nothobranchius rubripinnis Seegers, 1986
- Nothobranchius rubroreticulatus Blache & Miton, 1960
- Nothobranchius rungwaensis Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2019
- Nothobranchius ruudwildekampi Costa, 2009
- Nothobranchius sagittae Wildekamp, Watters & Shidlovskiy, 2014<ref name=Wildekamp2014>Wildekamp, R.H., Watters, B.R. & Shidlovskiy, K.M. (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.</ref>
- Nothobranchius sainthousei Nagy, Cotterill & Bellstedt, 2016<ref name=Nagy2016>Nagy, B., Cotterill, F.P.D. & Bellstedt, D.U. (2016): Nothobranchius sainthousei, a new species of annual killifish from the Luapula River drainage in northern Zambia (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 27 (3): 233-254.</ref>
- Nothobranchius seegersi Valdesalici & Kardashev, 2011
- Nothobranchius serengetiensis Wildekamp, Watters & Shidlovskiy, 2014<ref name=Wildekamp2014/>
- Nothobranchius skeltoni Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2019
- Nothobranchius sonjae Watters, Nagy & Bellstedt, 2019
- Nothobranchius steinforti Wildekamp, 1977
- Nothobranchius streltsovi Valdesalici (sv), 2016<ref name=Valdesalici2016>Valdesalici, S. (2016): Nothobranchius streltsovi, a new species of annual killifish with two male colour morphs from the Malagarasi drainage, central Tanzania (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 27 (2): 153-161.</ref>
- Nothobranchius sylvaticus Nagy, Bellstedt & Luke, 2025<ref name=Bellstedtetal2025>Bellstedt, D. U., B. Nagy, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill, Q. Luke & B. R. Watters. (2025). The description of a critically endangered new species of seasonal killifish, Nothobranchius sylvaticus (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a relict species from an East African forest refugium in south-eastern Kenya. Zootaxa, 5601 (1): 086–108. {{#invoke:doi|main}}
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- Nothobranchius symoensi Wildekamp, 1978
- Nothobranchius taeniopygus Hilgendorf, 1891 (Striped nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius taiti Nagy, 2019
- Nothobranchius torgashevi Valdesalici, 2015<ref name=Valdesalici2015>Valdesalici, S. (2015): Nothobranchius torgashevi (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae) a new species of annual killifish with two male colour morphs from the Lake Eyasi Basin, Central Tanzania. Killi-Data Series, 2015: 17-30.</ref>
- Nothobranchius ugandensis Wildekamp, 1994 (Uganda nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius usanguensis Wildekamp, Watters & Shidlovskiy, 2014<ref name=Wildekamp2014/>
- Nothobranchius venustus Nagy, Watters & Bellstedt, 2020
- Nothobranchius virgatus Chambers, 1984
- Nothobranchius vosseleri Ahl, 1924 (Pangani nothobranchius)
- Nothobranchius wattersi Ng'oma, Valdesalici, Reichwald & Cellerino, 2013<ref name=Ngoma2012>Ng'oma, E., Valdesalici, S., Reichwald, K. & Cellerino, A. (2013): Genetic and morphological studies of Nothobranchius (Cyprinodontiformes) from Malawi with description of Nothobranchius wattersi sp. nov. Journal of Fish Biology, 82 (1): 165–188.</ref>
- Nothobranchius willerti Wildekamp, 1992 (Mnanzini nothobranchius)