Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; non-migratory. Subtropical; 16°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060)
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27139)
Indian Ocean: Egypt to Somalia southward to Eil, a landlocked population in the Siwa Oasis, western Egypt. Immigrant through the Suez Canal into the southeastern Mediterranean basin, Egypt and Israel. Elsewhere: Dead Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, western India; landlocked populations in Saudi Arabia, Iran.
Occurs in coastal zones, also found in oasis pools with hypersaline to fresh water (Ref. 3788). Forms schools. Chiefly a herbivorous species (Ref. 13530). Not a seasonal killifish. Very difficult to maintain in aquarium (Ref. 27139). Spawn in areas where roots of hyacinth or other floating plants abound (Ref. 44327).
Huber, J.H., 1996. Killi-Data 1996. Updated checklist of taxonomic names, collecting localities and bibliographic references of oviparous Cyprinodont fishes (Atherinomorpha, Pisces). Société Française d'Ichtyologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 399 p. (Ref. 27139)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
CollaboratorsPicturesStamps, CoinsSoundsCiguateraSpeedSwim. typeGill areaOtolithsBrainsVision
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00427 (0.00136 - 0.01336), b=3.06 (2.81 - 3.31), based on LWR estimates for this Subfamily-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 2.0 ±0.00 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=1 and Fec < 1000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100) .