Nothobranchius melanospilus  (Pfeffer, 1896)

Blackspotted nothobranch
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Nothobranchius melanospilus
Female picture by R A Hill ARPS

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) > Nothobranchiidae (African rivulines)
Etymology: Nothobranchius: Greek, nothos = false + Greek, brangchia = gill (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; non-migratory.   Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 2059)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Africa: widely distributed, found in drainage systems of the rivers Umba, Pangani, Wami, Ruvu, Mbezi, Ruhoi, Matandu, Mbwemkuru, Rufiji in eastern Tanzania; in northern Zanzibar; and in the Umba and Ramisi drainages in southeastern Kenya (Ref. 83514).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27139)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 14-17; Anal soft rays: 15 - 18. This species is distinguished from its congeners in having the following characters: in males, the red caudal fin has narrow black margins at the upper and lower corners, narrow white margin to dorsal and anal fins, and silver iris; in females, flanks with irregularly dispersed black spots and on the basal half of the unpaired fins. This species differs from N. lucius in having a plain red caudal fin with narrow margin at the upper and lower corners in male (Ref. 83514).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in temporary pools in floodplains, rice fields, swamps, ditches and small streams (Ref. 3788). Found in water-filled depressions in floodplains of rivers; with vegetation often near edges, usually grasses; occasionally grasses cover the entire pool; if aquatic vegetation is present, it may comprise of Nymphea, Ottelia, Lagarosiphon, and Utricularia species; annual species; eggs deposited in substrate where they survive dry season; hatching at onset of wet season; rapid growth of fry; sexual maturity may be attained in six weeks; may be associated with other annual or non-annual fish species (Ref. 83514). Bottom spawner; 4 months incubation; difficult to maintain in aquarium (Ref. 27139).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Annual fishes.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Huber, J.H., 1996. Killi-Data 1996. Updated checklist of taxonomic names, collecting localities and bibliographic references of oviparous Cyprinodont fishes (Atherinomorpha, Pisces). Société Française d'Ichtyologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 399 p. (Ref. 27139)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

CITES (Ref. 115941)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
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Occurrences
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Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
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Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
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References
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Aquaculture profile
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Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
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Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01023 (0.00444 - 0.02358), b=2.94 (2.74 - 3.14), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.45 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months ().
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100) .