Aplocheilidae
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| Aplocheilidae | ||||||||||||
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 Nothobranchius rachovii
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15 genera, see text. |
Aplocheilidae is a family of fishes containing over 300 species. They are small killifish, usually measuring about 5 centimeters in length. Species are found in North America, South America, southern Asia, and Africa. They live in fresh water but are somewhat salt-tolerant. They are also found in muddy or brackish water.
Members of genus Nothobranchius are found in mud pools on the plains of Africa, a habitat shared by no other fish except the lungfishes. Their life cycle is only a year long, and they die when the pools dry up. Pools of this type are often sprayed with poison to reduce mosquito populations, which also kills the fish. As might be expected with short-lived species living in an ephemeral habitat, many of these fish reach sexual maturity within weeks of hatching, and are prolific breeders.
Some species are kept as aquarium pets. They have frilly fins and many are brightly colored.
[edit] Genera
- Aphyosemion
- Aplocheilus
- Callopanchax
- Epiplatys
- Fundulopanchax
- Nothobranchius
- Pachypanchax
- Scriptaphyosemion
[edit] References
- Aplocheilidae FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. August 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Berra, Tim M. (2001). Freshwater Fish Distribution. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-093156-7
