Meet the Fish That Grows Up in Just 14 Days

The turquoise killifish, which lives in ephemeral pools in Mozambique, progresses from embryo to sexual maturity faster than any other vertebrate.

That rapid maturation is an adaptation to the killifish’s habitat, according to the study published this week in the journal Current Biology. The fish spend most of their lives as tiny embryos that have been deposited in sediment in small depressions across the savannah. When rain fills the ephemeral pools, the embryos mature rapidly reaching sexual maturity and depositing their own embryos before the pool once again dries up. Not only do they make babies quickly, they bulk up fast, too—typically growing from about 5 millimeters to 54 millimeters in their lifespan.

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(M. Reichard)

These ephemeral puddles are the birthplace, home and grave of the killifish.

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By ​German wikipedia user Ugau, CC BY-SA 3.0

Due to very short duration of the rain season, the natural lifespan of these animals is limited to a few months and their captive lifespan is likewise short, making them an attractive model system for ageing and disease research.

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Killifish in natural habitat.

That's incredible, the size of them too

all in 14 days, the blink of an eye

Thanks for sharing Dragon