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, inv ...

species of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Poeciliidae Poeciliidae are a Family (biology), family of freshwater ray-finned fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, Poecilia, molly, Platy (fish), platy, and Green swo ...

. It is

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 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 Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. 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 of plants) 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 bee ...

channels. Captive "safety" populations are kept at the ''Xiphophorus'' Genetic Stock Center,

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, 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 movement, conservation from 1940 to the 1990s. He was born in Colorado Springs, earned his bachelor's degree at Universit ...

and W. L. Minckley 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 (biology), order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. ''Xiphophorus'' species can be divided into three groups based ...

'' with the closely related Monterrey platyfish (''X. couchianus'') and marbled swordtail (''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 {{DEFAULTSORT:platyfish, northern 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