It is a tiny African fish of the genus Nothobranchiu s that lives fast and dies young, since in addition to having a surprisingly short life expectancy, it is the fastest-growing vertebrate to sexual maturity .
The authors of the research, published in the journal EvoDeo , explain that it is an extreme adaptation to an extreme situation : this fish lives in temporary pools created by the rainy seasons in Africa, so it has no choice but to grow and reproduce quickly to lay their eggs before the waters dry up . Thus, you are able to increase your body size by 23% in a single day. And one species, Nothocranchius kadleci , begins to reproduce when it is only 17 days old. It immediately lays eggs that reach the hatching phase in two weeks, so the time between one generation and the next is one month, the minimum known among vertebrates.
When the puddles dry up, dormant and dormant embryos can survive in the dry mud for months, until the rains return and the cycle begins "at full speed" again.
