Northern_platyfish
Northern platyfish
Species of fish
The northern platyfish (Xiphophorus gordoni) is a small, endangered species of fish in the family Poeciliidae.[2] It is endemic to the vicinity of Cuatro Ciénegas 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 27–30 °C (81–86 °F), although captive studies show the species also can live in slightly colder water.[1][3][4][5]
The species is primarily threatened by habitat loss due to construction of irrigation channels.[1] Captive "safety" populations are kept at the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center, Texas State University, United States,[1] and by XNP conservation project members, which include public aquariums, universities and private aquarists in several European countries and the United States.[6][7][8]
It was named in honor of Myron Gordon by Robert Rush Miller and W. L. Minckley who discovered it with Carl Hubbs on a 1961 expedition.[3][9] The northern platyfish shares the title as northernmost naturally distributed Xiphophorus with the closely related Monterrey platyfish (X. couchianus) and marbled swordtail (X. meyeri).[4][10]