Reintroduction of an extinct fish, the Apodaca Monterrey Platy (Xiphophorus couchianus) in its natural habitat

Authors: Roberto Chavarria Gallegos, Miguel A. Gomez Garza, Arcadio Valdés-González

Year: 2008 (xl)

Abstract

The Monterrey Platy (Xiphophorus couchianus) used to occur in Huasteca Canyon and disappeared in the mid 1960’s, but populations of the species survived until the 1990’s, in Ojo de Agua de Apodaca, in the municipality of Apodaca in the Río Pesquería drainage. We accomplished the first reintroduction of this extinct-in-the-wild subspecies, after years of maintaining it in captivity and negotiating the reintroduction with authorities. Now we are now working with the local government and the local population on a campaign to establish an environmental ethic to help guarantee this species will survive into the future.