THE NOTHOBRANCHIUS SITE

ZMB 31905, neotype, male, 34.7 mm SL; Tanzania: residual pools of the Kaputa creek, in savanna bush, about 5 km east of Kazi Kazi railway station; approx. 05°37' S, 34°04' E; O. Roth, L. Seegers & R. H. Wildekamp, 22 Jun 1985, [field code: Kazi Kazi KTZ 85-9].

ZMB 12850 (3) [lost]

Nothobranchius taeniopygus can be distinguished from all other species of the genus by the very dark to almost black scale margins in males, its unique male fin colouration (a light band in the anal and caudal fins, before a wide black margin). Females without margkings. (after Wildekamp, 1990).

​

Nothobranchius taeniopygus is distinguished from all other species of the genus by the following combination of characters in males: body coloration light blue with red-brown scale margins; anal fin light blue-grey to yellow-grey with irregular brown spots, narrow brown submedial band, slender cream to yellow medial band, narrow yellow to white subdistal band and a broad black distal band; caudal fin light yellow-grey with brown stripes proximally, followed by a narrow brown medial band, a slender white subdistal band and a broad black distal band; pelvic fins brown, with slender cream to yellow medial band and narrow black distal band (Watters et al. 2019).

​Subgenus: Zononothobranchius

Species group: N. taeniopygus group

Nothobranchius taeniopygus was established as a species by Hilgendorf in 1891, based on specimens collected in 1890 by the German Central Africa Expedition of 1889–1892, led by Emin Pascha and Franz Stuhlmann, in the vicinity of Lake Chaya, close to the present Kazi Kazi railway station. The syntypes were considered to be lost (Paepke & Seegers, 1986) and the species was redescribed by Wildekamp (1990), with the designation of a neotype.

Since the redescription many field studies by numerous researchers have discovered many more populations in western and central Tanzania that were regarded as N. taeniopygus or N. aff. taeniopygus and, based on some colour pattern differences, numerous ‘phenotypes’ have been designed (Wildekamp, 2004). Morphometric and molecular analyses confirmed that N. taeniopygus is restricted to populations around the type locality in the upper Wembere system, and the different phenotypes described as distinct species by Watters et al. (2019) as Nothobranchius angelae, N. ottoschmidti, N. rungwaensis, N. skeltoni and N. sonjae.

"Tschaia-See"

Lake Chaya, central Tanzania (approx. 05°35' S, 34°04' E)

​

Neotype from a close-by locality: Tanzania: residual pools of the Kaputa creek, in savanna bush, about 5 km east of Kazi Kazi railway station; approx. 05°37' S, 34°04' E.

This species is endemic to central Tanzania. It is known from temporary pools and swamps associated with the Kapatu creek drainage in the uppermost reaches of the Wembere River system, west and southwest of Itigi, central Tanzania (Watters et al. 2019).

Southern Eastern Rift (566)

1273–1378 m

Water parameters at locality of neotype (Wildekamp, 1990):

Water temperature: 17.2 °C

pH: 8.2

Conductivity: 210 µS

N. torgashevi - 50%

This species has an annual life cycle.

Embryonic development under captive conditions in peat moss is about three to five months at room temperature.

Maximum size reported: 40.4 mm SL (Wildekamp, 1990)

Diploid chromosome number 2n = 36 (Wildekamp, 2004), NF = 66, karyotype structure 14m+16sm+6st/a (Krysanov & Demidova, 2018).

The specific name is formed from tainia (in Greek for band) and pyge (in Greek for rump), in reference to the striped pattern of male anal fin.

Vulnerable B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) (Nagy & Watters, 2020);

Previous assessments: Least Concern (FishBase team RMCA & Geelhand, 2016); Least Concern (2006)

    Hilgendorf, F. M. 1891. Eine Aufzählung der von Emin Pascha und Dr. Stuhlmann gesammelten Fische und Krebse. Sitzungs-Berichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, (1): 18–20. [taxonomy as Nothobranchius taeniopygus]

    Wildekamp R. H. 1990. Redescription of two lesser known Nothobranchius from Central Tanzania, N. taeniopygus and N. neumanni (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 1 (3): 193–206. [taxonomy, systematics, distribution, ecology]

    Watters, B. R., B. Nagy, P. D. W. van der Merwe, F. P. D. Cotterill & D. U. Bellstedt. 2019. Review of the Nothobranchius taeniopygus species group from central and western Tanzania with descriptions of five new species and redescription of Nothobranchius taeniopygus (Teleostei: Nothobranchiidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, IEF-1110, pp. 1–41. [distribution, phylogeny, systematics]

    Nagy, B. & B. R. Watters. 2020. Nothobranchius taeniopygus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T156301922A131472679. [conservation]