Rediscovery of Leptopanchax splendens (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae): a seasonal killifish from the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil that was recently considered extinct.

A recent collection of the seasonal killifish found Leptopanchax splendens c. 5 km from the type locality, 74 years after its last record. The species was historically common in its type locality, the Estrela River basin in south-eastern Brazil, until 1950, after which it was not encountered and thought to have become extinct due to widespread deforestation and urbanization in the region. Despite the rediscovery, this study finds that other recently published reports of L. splendens are misidentifications.