Spectrolebias reticulatus was collected by J.L. Diniz on May 5th 2003 and originally described as Simpsonichthys reticulatus.

The locality this species was found is near Altamira, lower Xingu floodplains, Estado do Para, Brazil.

Coordinates 3°15" S. 52°20" W. following the first description by W. Costa.

The species is distinguished from all other congerers by the reticulated pattern on males sides. It is close related to Simpsonichthys costai and is also different by the fan- like dorsal and anal fishape that is not seen in all other species of the genus. To costai it has more dorsal finrays in males (23-25 versus 21-23) and fewer in females ( 13-15 versus 16-19).

In Costa's revision(2006) of the genera Nematolebias and Simpsonichthys he devaluated the genus status of Spectrolebias to subgenus. In the same work he assigned 4 other species from the Simpsonichthys clan to this subgenus. These species are: S. reticulatus, S. costai, S. chacoensis and S. filamentosus. Since September 2008 another species is added to this subgenus. This was Simpsonichthys inaequipinnatus.

This species seems not to difficult in reproduction and need only some extra attention during the first days as they need very small food like fresh hatched artemia or small infusoria.

The way they spawn is, as most annual species do, by diving completely into the substratum.

This is best placed in a small jar or drinking glass at the bottom, filled with peat moss from at least the depth of the body length of the fishes.

After 6-8 weeks the fishes are capable to produce there first eggs if food was given sufficiently.

Remarks :

Breeders need a lot of patience as eggs sometimes need 6 to 10 months to develop and hatch. It is likely that high temperatures shorten that period but no data are available for this right now...

Max. size 3.0 cm.
Dorsal 24.0,
Anal 21.7,
D/A -3.5,
LL scale count (average)23.0
Pre- dorsal length to % SL – 40.1 %
Depth to % SL – 28.7 %

Simpsonichthys reticulatus n. sp. (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae): a new annual fish from the Rio Xingu flood plains, Brazillian Amazon. Aqua, Journal of Ichthyoloy and Aquatic Biology, 7 (3): 120, figs 1-2.

Costa, W. J. E. M. 2010. Historical biogeography of cynolebiasine annual killifishes inferred from dispersal- vicariance analysis. Journal of Biogeography, 37: 1995-2004. (PDF) Right click to open in new window