''Nothobranchius ditte'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of brightly colored seasonal

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest famil ...

in the family Nothobranchiidae, belonging to the '' Nothobranchius brieni''

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to freshwater habitats in the south-eastern parts of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Adult males reach a length of about 40–42 mm, but the females are slightly smaller. The species is a semi-annual

. They inhabit ephemeral pools filled by rainwater during the monsoon season, being adapted to the alteration of dry and wet seasons. As with all members of the genus ''Nothobranchius'', they show extreme life-history adaptations: their embryos survive by entering a three or four month long

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

, within eggs that have a very hard chorion and are resistant to

desiccation Desiccation () is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...

and hypoxia. When the habitats dry up, the adult fish die and the eggs survive encased in the clay during the dry season.

Type locality and type material

The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

is stated as "Ephemeral swamps of the Katate system, about 9.5 km northwest of Kilwa village,

Lake Mweru Lake Mweru (also spelled ''Mwelu'', ''Mwero'') is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up of the total length of the ...

basin, Democratic Republic of Congo, 09°12'33"S, 28°17'01"E". The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

of the

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

is a 33.0 mm long male

zoological specimen A zoological specimen is an animal or part of an animal preserved for scientific use. Various uses are: to verify the identity of a (species), to allow study, increase public knowledge of zoology. Zoological specimens are extremely diverse. Exampl ...

reposited as "MRAC 2016-027-P-0001" at the

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total ...

, Belgium, together with 12

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). O ...

s. Nagy gave it the specific name ''ditte'' in honour of his "beloved" wife, Edit Csikós, "Ditte" being her nickname.

Links

''Nothobranchius ditte''
on WildNothos

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60513855 ditte Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Endemic fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Fish described in 2018