''Nothobranchius elucens'' is a species of brightly colored seasonal

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish, including families Aplocheilidae, Pantanodontidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Nothobranchiidae, Profundulidae, Aphaniidae and Valenciidae. All together, there ar ...

in the family

Nothobranchiidae Nothobranchiidae are a Family (biology), family of Osteichthyes, bony fishes containing roughly 300 species, also known as African rivulines. They are small killifish, usually measuring about . They are limited to Africa, living in fresh water bu ...

. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to northern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. It is currently known from temporary swamps in the Achwa River system in the upper

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

drainage. Nagy, B. (2021). ''Nothobranchius elucens'', a new species of seasonal killifish from the upper Nile drainage in Uganda (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae). ''Zootaxa'', 4915 (1): 133–147. The small and colourful ''

Nothobranchius ''Nothobranchius'' is a genus of small, freshwater killifish, classified in the family Nothobranchiidaevan der Laan, R., Eschmeyer, W.N. & Fricke, R. (2014)Family-group names of Recent fishes.''Zootaxa, 3882 (2): 1–230.'' in the order Cyprinod ...

'' fishes inhabit ephemeral habitats in freshwater

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and have extreme life-history adaptations. Members of the genus are recognized as seasonal fishes, with all known species having an annual or semi-annual life cycle, a key adaptation to reproduce in the seasonally arid

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

and allowing their eggs to survive the periodic drying up of the seasonal natural habitats. Nagy, B. (2015) Life history and reproduction of ''Nothobranchius'' fishes. ''Journal of the American Killifish Association'', 47 (4–6): 182–192.

Sources

Links

''Nothobranchius elucens''
on WildNothos - various information and photographs of this species elucens Fish described in 2021 Fish of Uganda Endemic fauna of Uganda {{Nothobranchiidae-stub