Diminutive annual killifish take refuge in small pools and puddles left on the forest floor as the floodwaters recede. They lay their eggs in the wet, muddy leaf litter. As standing water evaporates, the adult killifish are stranded and die, but their eggs survive on the moist floor and hatch months later when the rains come again. The babies mature rapidly during high water, reproduce and die, completing the species' annual cycle within the river's yearly rhythms.