Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

The Neotropical Genus Austrolebias: An Emerging Model Of Annual Killifishes, Nibia Berois, María J. Arezo, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Annual fishes are found in both Africa and South America occupying ephemeral ponds that dried seasonally. Neotropical annual fishes are members of the family Rivulidae that consist of both annual and non-annual fishes. Annual species are characterized by a prolonged embryonic development and a relatively short adult life.

Males and females show striking sexual dimorphisms, complex courtship, and mating behaviors. The prolonged embryonic stage has several traits including embryos that are resistant to desiccation and undergo up to three reversible developmental arrests until hatching. These unique developmental adaptations are closely related to the annual fish life cycle and are the …

External Morphology Of The Chorion Of The Annual Fishes Cynolebias (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae), Marcelo Loureiro, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Members of the family Rivulidae (killifishes) inhabit temporary bodies of freshwater in South and Central America (one species is also found in North America). The most remarkable characteristic of the family Rivulidae is that species have an annual life cycle with a drought-resistant egg during the dry season. Parenti's (1981) analysis of the order Cyprinodontiformes considered a single genus, Cynolebias, whereas Cos- ta's (1990) phylogenetic analysis of the family Rivulidae separates Cynolebias from Cynopoecilus. One of Costa's synapomorphies to separate Cynopoecilus is the unique structure of their egg's chorion, which is shared with Leptolebias and Campellolebias.