Pachypanchax playfairii (Günther, 1866)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Pachypanchax playfairii, the golden panchax, is a species of Aplocheilid killifish, the only species of freshwater fish endemic to the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, east of Tanzania. It is the only member of its genus found outside of Madagascar. Within the Seychelles it is found only on the granitic islands. Here it occurs in small freshwater and brackish water streams, feeding on worms, crustaceans, insects and fish. An egg scatterer, the golden panchax breeds amongst floating water plants. This species is unusual in that the scales of the male become lifted during the breeding season, giving the skin a rough appearance. Unlike the true annual killifish, they live as long as similar fishes, a few years, 3 years is not uncommon 5 is unknown. Discovered by Robert Lambert Playfair in the Seychelles in 1863, the species was described as Haplocheilus playfairi by Albert Günther in 1866 and were moved to Pachypanchax by George S.
Wikipedia contributors, Pachypanchax playfairii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:29:07.445414+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pachypanchax playfairii (Günther, 1866)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1866)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Aplocheilidae
- Genus
- Pachypanchax
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCyprinodontiformes
- familyAplocheilidae Bleeker, 1859
- genusPachypanchax Myers, 1933
- speciesPachypanchax playfairii (Günther, 1866)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pachypanchax. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pachypanchax sparksorum Loiselle, 2006 | AplocheilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pachypanchax varatraza Loiselle, 2006 | AplocheilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pachypanchax arnoulti Loiselle, 2006 | AplocheilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pachypanchax omalonotus (Duméril, 1861) | AplocheilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pachypanchax patriciae Loiselle, 2006 | AplocheilidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Haplochilus playfairii Günther, 1866 Günther, 1866 | synonym |
| Pachypanchax playfairi (Günther, 1866) (Günther, 1866) | synonym |
| Panchax playfairii (Günther, 1866) (Günther, 1866) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=281964 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4BTH8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.