Nematolebias whitei

Nematolebias whitei, the Rio pearlfish, is a species of killifish from the family Rivulidae. It is endemic to Brazil where it is found in the Laguna de Araruama basin, Das Ostras River basin and in coastal plains in the vicinity of the mouth of São João River in Rio de Janeiro State. It was introduced to California[2] in the 20th Century but they did not become established there.[3]

Nematolebias whitei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Rivulidae
Genus: Nematolebias
Species:
N. whitei
Binomial name
Nematolebias whitei
Synonyms[2]
  • Cynolebias whitei Myers, 1942
  • Cynolebias elegans (Ladiges, 1958)
  • Leptolebias elegans (Ladiges, 1958)
  • Pterolebias elegans Ladiges, 1958

Nematolebias whitei is found in small temporary, shallow pools of freshwater on the floodplains of streams and lagoons which have a compact, soft reddish brown muddy substrate and which dry out twice a year. Once during the southern winter in July and August, and again during the southern summer, normally in February and March. When these pools dry out all the fish die and the eggs which have been laid in the muddy bottom go through diapause. When the pools fill up in the wet seasons, in March-April and September-October the eggs hatch.[2]

It is the type species of its genus.[4] The species was described as Cynolebias whitei by George S. Myers in 1942 with the type locality given as a drying out swamp which was 10 or 12 miles (16 or 19 km) north of Cabo Frio in Rio de Janeiro State.[5] The specific name honours Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas D. White (1901-1965) of the U.S. Army Air Corps and who later became Chief of Staff for the U.S. Air Force, who collected the type.[6]

References
  1. Studies on South American freshwater fishes I. GS Myers - Stanford Ichthyol. Bull, 1942
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Nematolebias whitei" in FishBase. April 2019 version.
  3. "Nematolebias whitei (Myers, 1942)". USGS NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  4. Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke & R. van der Laan (eds.). "Nematolebias". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  5. Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke & R. van der Laan (eds.). "Cynolebias whitei". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  6. Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (5 September 2019). "Order CYPRINODONTIFORMES: Family RIVULIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 15 September 2019.


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