The northern platyfish (''Xiphophorus gordoni'') is a small,

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Poeciliidae The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the family was t ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the vicinity of

Cuatro Ciénegas Cuatro Ciénegas () is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at , at an average elevation of above sea level. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located in the ...

in the Mexican state of Coahuila. It is restricted to hot-spring heated ditches and marshes of the Laguna Santa Tecla. Its native water is shallow and vegetation-choked, with very stable temperatures that generally are around , although captive studies show the species also can live in slightly colder water. The species is primarily threatened by habitat loss due to construction of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

channels. Captive "safety" populations are kept at the ''Xiphophorus''

Genetic Stock Center Genetic stock centers are collections of pure genetic stock available for use in research. They are often housed at research universities, and include everything from single cell life to plants, fish, and small mammals such as mice and rats. Genet ...

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

, United States, and by XNP conservation project members, which include public aquariums, universities and private aquarists in several European countries and the United States. It was named in honor of Myron Gordon by

Robert Rush Miller Robert Rush Miller (April 23, 1916 – February 10, 2003) "was an important figure in American ichthyology and conservation from 1940 to the 1990s." He was born in Colorado Springs, earned his bachelor's degree at University of California, Berke ...

and

W. L. Minckley Wendell Lee Minckley (November 13, 1935 – June 22, 2001) was a college professor and leading expert on fish. He spent most of his career at Arizona State University. In 1963, he with Robert Rush Miller discovered and named the northern platy ...

who discovered it with Carl Hubbs on a 1961 expedition. The northern platyfish shares the title as northernmost naturally distributed ''

Xiphophorus ''Xiphophorus'' is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. The many ''Xiphophorus'' species are all known as platyfish (or platies) and ...

'' with the closely related

Monterrey platyfish The Monterrey platyfish (''Xiphophorus couchianus'') is a species of freshwater fish in family Poecilidae. A live-bearer, it was native to a very small section of the San Juan River system (itself part of the Rio Grande basin) in the vicinity ...

(''X. couchianus'') and

marbled swordtail The marbled swordtail (''Xiphophorus meyeri'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Poeciliidae. It was endemic to the Rio Salado system (itself a part of the Rio Grande basin) in Coahuila, northeastern Mexico. It was restricted to spri ...

(''X. meyeri'').

References

External links

*Some Like it Hot:The Cuatrocienegas Platy, Ted Dengler Coletti, PhD, Pgs 36 and 37, ''Tropical Fish Hobbyist'', May 2009 northern platyfish Freshwater fish of Mexico Endemic fish of Mexico Taxa named by Robert Rush Miller Taxa named by Wendell L. Minckley northern platyfish Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub