Several goodeids are a parade play for the fact that conservation of species in captivity by hobby aquarists is possible and partially extraordinarily successful. The species Charcodon audax occurs endemically (i.e. exclusively there) in parts of the catchment area of the headwaters of the Rio Mezquital in the Mexican state of Durango. It is threatened by many influences. Mainly the species inhabits springs as long as they are clear enough. Because of the great drought in recent years, the individual populations are widely scattered and have hardly any contact with each other. In the remaining habitats released fishes are the biggest threat: Gambusia senilis, sunfish (Lepomis), black bass (Micropterus) and tilapias were exposed there, partly for mosquito control (which is useless, because they are eaten by Characodon as well), but mainly as food fish. Nowadays there are released tilapias in almost all habitats, which compete for habitat, food and oxygen, but also are direct predators, at least for young animals.
This year we had five different populations of this colorful goodeid on offer, but three of them were sold out before we could create a newsletter. Still in stock are “Guadalupe Aguilera” and “Puente Pino Suarez”. We ask our customers for understanding that we can not deliver such treasures by pairs and also the sizes are quite variable. There are only a few specimens available each year anyway, and we buy them all to support the conservation breeding efforts.
For our customers: Puente Pino Suarez has code 216273, Guadalupe Aguilera code 216243 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
