The Pánuco River ( es, Río Pánuco, ), also known as the ''Río de Canoas'', is a river in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

fed by several tributaries including the

Moctezuma River The Moctezuma River (Río Moctezuma) is a river in Mexico that drains the eastern side of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Sierra Nevada). It is a tributary of the Pánuco River and flows through the Mexican states of Hidalgo, Querétaro, and Sa ...

and emptying into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. The river is approximately long and passes through or borders the states of

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí,

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

, and

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. According to the ''Atlas of Mexico'', it is the fourth-largest river in Mexico by volume of runoff, and forms the sixth-largest

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

in Mexico by area."River Basins"
''Atlas of Mexico'', 1975, with topographical map

Description

The Pánuco River drains a basin of 98,227 km², which includes portions of the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States b ...

, the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the

Gulf Coastal Plain The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico. This coastal plain reaches from the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia, the southern two-thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, wes ...

.Hudson, Paul F. (2000) "Discharge, Sediment, and Channel Characteristics of the Río Panuco, Mexico". ''Yearbook (Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers), 2000'', Vol. 26 (2000), University of Texas Press, pp. 61-70

/ref> The Pánuco is formed by the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Moctezuma River, Moctezuma and the Tampaón (or Tamuín). The Moctezuma originates on the Mexican Plateau, and its headwater streams include the

Tula River The Tula River ( es, Río Tula) is a river in Hidalgo State in central Mexico, and a tributary of the Moctezuma River. Geography It runs through the city of Tula de Allende and begins as a drainage channel for the Valley of Mexico, which contai ...

. It runs northward, forming the state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves toward San Luis Potosí, before turning eastward to carve a deep canyon through the Sierra Madre Oriental. Once emerging onto the Gulf Coastal Plain, it runs northeastwards, joined from the south by the Tempoal River before joining the Tamuin in

. The Santa Maria and Rio Verde also originate on the Mexican Plateau, north of the Moctezuma. They carve canyons through the Sierra, where they join to form the Tampaón, which continues eastwards past the Sierra onto the Gulf Coastal Plain to join the Moctezuma. The Pánuco winds another 172.5 km through the coastal lowlands, joined from the south by the Topila and from the north by the Tamesí, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

– Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas. The lower Pánuco forms the border between the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz. The

Tampico Bridge The Tampico Bridge () is a vehicular cable-stayed bridge connecting the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz in eastern Mexico. Geography The bridge crosses the Pánuco River near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It connects the city of T ...

crosses the river near its mouth. In total, the Pánuco is more than 500 km in length, though only the last 15 km is navigable for larger ships. The watershed of the Pánuco and its tributaries drains portions of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo,

, Puebla, and Veracruz. In 1519, during his cartographic expeditions along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

explorer

Alonso Álvarez de Pineda Alonso Álvarez de Piñeda (; 1494–1520) was a Spanish conquistador and cartographer who was the first to prove the insularity of the Gulf of Mexico by sailing around its coast. In doing so he created the first map to depict what is now Texas an ...

established a settlement on the river, which he named ''Las Palmas'', though it was abandoned after he was killed in battle with indigenous peoples living nearby.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books,

Climate

The Pánuco basin has a subtropical climate. The climate east of the Sierra ranges from semi-arid in the north and subhumid in the south, with average annual rainfall ranging from 800 mm in drier north up to 3000 mm in the south. The eastward-facing slopes of the Sierra generate

orographic precipitation Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

. The Mexican Plateau is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Madre Oriental, and has an arid to semi-arid climate, with an average annual rainfall of 300 mm. The principal source of rainfall is easterly

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

s, which strengthen from late June to August. Tropical cyclonic storms can bring additional moisture from August through October. August is generally the highest rainfall month. Rainfall is generally low from November to mid-June, except for occasional mid-latitude storms coming from the north during the winter months. The volume of water carried by the river is highest during late summer and early fall, and is generally low from November through June.

Ecology

Xiphophorus montezumae - AquaPorteDoree 07

The Pánuco River basin is rich in fish. There are almost 100 fish species, including a few that were introduced. There are many

endemics 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 ...

: six ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'' cichlid species, five ''

Tampichthys ''Tampichthys'' is a genus of cyprinid fish endemic to east–central Mexico. They are entirely restricted to the Pánuco River basin, except ''T. ipni'' which also occurs in some other Mexican rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. These ar ...

'' minnows, nine "northern swordtails" (genus ''

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 ...

''), three ''

Gambusia ''Gambusia'' is a large genus of viviparous fish in the family Poeciliidae (order Cyprinodontiformes). ''Gambusia'' contains over 40 species, most of which are principally found in freshwater habitats, though some species may also be found in b ...

'' species, two ''

Ictalurus ''Ictalurus'' is a genus of North American freshwater catfishes. It includes the well-known channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') and blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus''). The catfish genome database (cBARBEL) is a database for the genetics ...

'' catfish, the bluetail goodeid (''Ataeniobius toweri''), dusky splitfin (''Goodea gracilis''), relict splitfin (''Xenoophorus captivus''), pygmy shiner (''Notropis tropicus''), checkered pupfish (''Cualac tessellatus''), broadspotted molly (''Poecilia latipunctata''), Tamasopo cichlid (''Herichthys tamasopoensis''),

Calabazas shiner The Calabazas shiner (''Notropis calabazas'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Notropis''. It is endemic to central Mexico, where it is found in the Rio Panuco basin. References * Calabazas Calabaza is the generic name ...

(''Notropis calabazas'') and fleshylip buffalo (''Ictiobus labiosus''). Additionally, a couple of still-

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

are known from this river basin. A few of the endemics are seriously

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

References

Sources and external links

"Panuco"
Freshwater Ecoregions of the World *"Tales of Southern Rivers", by Zane Grey , 1924, True story of descent of Santa Rosa and Panuco Rivers {{DEFAULTSORT:Panuco Rivers of San Luis Potosí Rivers of Tamaulipas Rivers of Veracruz Drainage basins of the Gulf of Mexico Tampico

Description

Climate

Ecology

See also

References

Sources and external links