The Nile killifish (''Micropanchax loati''), also known as the Nile lampeye, is a species of

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 family ...

from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Poeciliidae The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the family was t ...

. It is found in the

White Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

drainage in Sudan, the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

in Egypt, the Wembere and

Malagarasi River The Malagarasi River is a river in western Tanzania, flowing through Kigoma Region, although one of its tributaries comes from southeastern Burundi. The river also forms the western border of Tabora Region, the southern border of Kagera Region and ...

s in Tanzania and in the

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

basin in Uganda and Tanzania. However, it is thought to have been

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from Egypt, the introduction of alien poecilid fish,

agricultural pollution Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pol ...

and increasing salinity are all thought to have contributed to its local extinction in the Nile Delta. The Nile killifish occurs in small bodies of water and in shallow well vegetated areas in larger water bodies. It can be found in swamps, irrigation ditches, brooks and small river. It does not inhabit temporary habitats and so is not a seasonal killifish. It is an

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

species and its eggs are laid on vegetation, hanging on to the stalks and twigs by means of threads on the outer coating of the eggs. In captivity the eggs develop in about two weeks with the young reaching sexual maturity when they attain an age of 7–8 months. It grows to a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . The Nile killifish was described in 1901 as ''Haplochilus schoelleri'' by the Belgian-British

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

(1858-1937) with the type locality being given as

Lake No Lake No is a lake in South Sudan. It is located just north of the vast swamp of the Sudd, at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers, and marks the transition between the Bahr al Jabal and White Nile proper. Lake No is loc ...

in South Sudan. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours

William Leonard Stevenson Loat William Leonard Stevenson Loat (born Norwood, Surrey 15 October 1871- died Treclome, Mevagissey, Cornwall, 10 April 1932), the son of William L. and Marianna Eliza Stevenson. was a British archaeologist, naturalist and collector. Many of the obj ...

(1871-1932) a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and naturalist who was the superintendent of the survey party responsible for collecting the type. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Micropanchax ''Micropanchax'' is a genus of poeciliids native to Africa. Species The 13 recognized species in this genus are: * ''Micropanchax antinorii'' (Vinciguerra, 1883) (black lampeye) * ''Micropanchax bracheti'' (Heinz Otto Berkenkamp, Berkenkamp, 19 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q3766131 Nile killifish Fish described in 1901