''Pachypanchax patriciae'' 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 ...
Aplocheilidae
Aplocheilidae, the Asian killifishes or Asian rivulines, is a family of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes found in Asia. Some authorities use this family-group name, which is well-established, for a single lumped aplocheiloid family as it giv ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...
to Madagascar where it occurs in the basins of the
Mananjeba,
Mahavavy du Nord,
Ifasy,
Manehoko, and
Ampandra rivers in the north west of the island.
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 ...
of this fish honours the
Malagasy conservationist Patricia Yazgi (1946-2006), who ran the charity Friends of Fishes and who supported efforts to document and conserve the freshwater fish fauna of Madagascar.
This species appears to feed mainly the adults and nymphs of terrestrial insects and on the larvae of aquatic insects and its most important predators are fish-eating birds and dragonfly nymphs. It may, however, be threatened by introduced alien fishes in some areas.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q309831
patriciae
Taxa named by Paul V. Loiselle
Fish described in 2006