Nothobranchius orthonotus
| Kingdom |
Phylum |
Class |
Order |
Family |
| ANIMALIA |
CHORDATA |
ACTINOPTERYGII |
CYPRINODONTIFORMES |
NOTHOBRANCHIIDAE |
| Scientific Name: |
Nothobranchius orthonotus |
| Species Authority: |
(Peters, 1844) |
Common Name/s:
| English |
– |
Spotted Killifish |
|
| Synonym/s: |
Nothobranchius orthonotus
|
| Taxonomic Notes: |
Widespread in the Mozambique coastal plain and extending down into northern South Africa. Exhibits variation in colour patterns and perhaps there is some genetic structuring of populations. |
Assessment Information
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| Red List Category & Criteria: |
Least Concern
ver 3.1
|
| Year Published: |
2010 |
| Assessor/s: |
Bills, R., Engelbrecht, J., Kazembe, J., Marshall, B. & Tweddle, D. |
| Reviewer/s: |
Snoeks, J., Tweddle, D., Getahun, A., Lalèyè, P., Paugy, D., Zaiss, R., Fishar, M.R.A & Brooks, E. |
Justification:
This species has a wide distribution in south eastern Africa, with only localised threats. It is therefore listed as Least Concern. It has also been assessed regionally as Least Concern for southern Africa, although it is noted localised impacts are known from the southern range for the species where it may be locally rare and threatened, and was previously listed as VU. In east Africa, it is only known from the Lower Shire in Malawi. This is considered to be a restricted location under the potential threat of wetland drainage for agriculture, and has therefore been assessed as Vulnerable.
|
| History: |
| 2007 |
– |
Least Concern
|
| 2006 |
– |
Vulnerable
(IUCN 2006)
|
|
Geographic Range
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| Range Description: |
The distribution of this species extends from Malawi and Mozambiaque, south to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Eastern Africa: In this region it is only known from the Lower Shire River in Malawi.
Southern Africa: It is found in the central Mozambique coastal plain from the Zambezi River south to the lower Mkuze in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is present in a few pans in the Kruger National Park, South Africa (lower Limpopo system), and extends into the Gona-re-Zhou National Park region of south-eastern Zimbabwe and southern Malawi (Lower Shire River).
|
| Countries: |
Native:
Malawi; Mozambique; South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga)
|
| Range Map: |
Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
|
Population
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| Population: |
No information available.
|
| Population Trend: |
Unknown
|
Habitat and Ecology
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| Habitat and Ecology: |
This species inhabits temporary water pools where it feeds on insects and aquatic invertebrates. It may be present in swamps intermittently connected to floodplains but the species seems to be predated upon or out-competed by riverine species. It lays its eggs in the bottom sediments. Soon after the water in the pool dries up, and the adult fish die. The eggs hatch during the following rainy season when the pan or pool re-fills. The fish grows to maturity in a few weeks followed by spawning for an extended period.
|
| Systems: |
Freshwater |
| Major Threat(s): |
This species has been impacted by insecticide spraying and road building activities, as well as drainage of wetlands for agriculture, however, these impacts are localised.
|
Conservation Actions
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| Conservation Actions: |
Damage to pans and wetlands should be avoided by road builders. Aerial spraying for tsetse and mosquitos should where possible be replaced with more targeted methods e.g. traps or spraying of insect sources. More research is needed into this species taxonomy, population numbers and range, biology and ecology, habitat status and threats, as well as monitoring of population trends.
|
Bibliography
[top]
|
Pan-Africa freshwater assessment references. Currently, full citations for references used in the Pan-Africa biodiversity assessments are unavailable on the Red List web site. These will be added to the site in 2011. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.3). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 2 September 2010).
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