''Allotoca'' is a genus of

splitfin Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Goode ...

s that are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to west-central and southwest

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where restricted to the

Lerna In classical Greece, Lerna () was a region of springs and a former lake located in the municipality of the same name, near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geogra ...

– Chapala– Grande de Santiago, Ameca and Balsas river basins, as well as various

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

lake basins in

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

and

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

(

Pátzcuaro Pátzcuaro () is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, V ...

, Zirahuén,

Cuitzeo Cuitzeo () is a municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The municipal seat is the town of Cuitzeo del Porvenir It is located in a relatively flat depression around Lake Cuitzeo, a large, very shallow lake, which is i ...

, Magdalena and others). All ''Allotoca'' species are seriously

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

. The largest ''Allotoca'' is up to long, but most species only reach between half and three-quarter that size. Unusually, ''A. catarinae'' is probably the result of an ancient translocation by humans in the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

(similar ancient human-assisted translocations are known from certain birds in Mexico). The translocation happened at least 700 years ago and most likely about 1900 years ago. The ancestral species then

evolved Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

into ''A. catarinae'' at its new isolated location in the Cupatitzio River, a tributary of the Balsas River.

Species

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

recognizes eight species in this genus, but their

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

is complex and in need of a review. One of the species recognized by FishBase, ''A. regalis'', is distinctive and sometimes placed in its own genus ''Neoophorus''. * ''

Allotoca catarinae ''Allotoca'' is a genus of splitfins that are endemism, endemic to west-central and southwest Mexico, where restricted to the Lerma River, Lerna–Lake Chapala, Chapala–Grande de Santiago River, Grande de Santiago, Ameca River, Ameca and Balsas ...

'' ( F. de Buen, 1942) (Catarina allotoca) * '' Allotoca diazi'' (

Meek Meekness is an attribute of human nature and behavior that has been defined as an amalgam of righteousness, inner humility, and patience. Meekness has been contrasted with humility alone insomuch as humility simply refers to an attitude towards o ...

, 1902) (Patzcuaro allotoca) * '' Allotoca dugesii'' ( T. H. Bean, 1887) (Opal allotoca) * '' Allotoca goslinei'' M. L. Smith & R. R. Miller, 1987 (Banded allotoca) * '' Allotoca maculata'' M. L. Smith & R. R. Miller, 1980 (Blackspot alotoca) * ''

Allotoca meeki ''Allotoca meeki'', commonly known as the Zirahuen allotoca or the ''tiro de Zirahuén'', is a species of fish endemic to Lake Zirahuén, a small endorheic mountain lake in Michoacán state of central Mexico. The specific name honours the Ameri ...

'' (

Álvarez Álvarez or Álvares may refer to: People *Álvarez (surname), Spanish surname Places * Alvares (river), a river in northern Spain * Alvares (ski resort), in Iran * Alvares, Iran * Alvares, Portugal * Álvarez, Santa Fe, a town in the province of ...

, 1959) (Zirahuen allotoca) * '' Allotoca regalis'' (

, 1959) (Balsas allotoca) * '' Allotoca zacapuensis'' M. K. Meyer, Radda & Domínguez-Domínguez, 2001 (Zacapu allotoca)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3505534 Freshwater fish of Mexico Endemic fish of Mexico Goodeinae Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Carl Leavitt Hubbs Ray-finned fish genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot