XNP project in Guadalajara

From October 23rd to 26th, 2024, a great event took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, which I want to take you to through this short report. (Although, as you will find out below, many of you were actually there with me!) It was the 2^nd International Conference on Conservation of Freshwater Species of Mexico, organized by the Goodeid Working Group together with the Guadalajara Zoo. The latter hosted the first three days of the event, thanks to which participants had the opportunity to view a very rich collection of animals and visit various educational and entertaining attractions.

Two and a half days were dedicated to presentations - these concerned the conservation of various representatives of Mexican freshwater fauna and were presented by scientists or students from universities, representatives of authorities, conservation organizations, zoos and public aquariums, and local communities. The vast majority of speakers were from Mexico, several representatives were from abroad - therefore, presentations and discussions were held in Spanish and English, and high-quality simultaneous translation was provided.

In addition to fish of various families, there were talks about Ambystoma species, but also about freshwater sponges. All the lectures were extremely interesting and I took away from them a very strong impression that the conservation of the freshwater environment in Mexico is of interest to a large number of people who are actively doing something for it. It was a very enriching meeting full of sharing of professional knowledge and experience, but also hope and determination.

How does this relate to xiphos? On the first day of the conference, I gave a lecture “Six years of organized conservation breeding of endangered Xiphophorus species in Europe”, in which I introduced the northern platyfish and their (former) locations, but I also talked about the international conservation project under the umbrella of ÖVVÖ: Xiphophorus – Northern Platyfish. It is always a great honour for me to be able to represent about fifty European breeders who, by working together, ensure the survival of two species that are extinct in the wild. No, they are not the only ones who have found pleasure in keeping Xiphophorus couchianus and Xiphophorus meyeri – but they are the ones who have decided to cooperate without reservations and keep both species in aquariums regardless of whether they represent a zoo or have just a couple of aquariums at home as a hobby. Or anything in between :-).

As you well know, both species of platyfish extinct in the wild are not in Mexico – not even in aquariums. Together we are trying to change that. Therefore, my presentation was beautifully followed up by Antonio Martínez from Acuario Inbursa, who prepared an exhibition of Mexican extinct fish and plans to show platyfish from our European breeding there to the general public.

On the last day of the conference, we visited Teuchitlán and all the places that are connected to the world-famous success: the return of Zoogoneticus tequila to the wild. We were also part of a beautiful moment for the future of Skiffia francesae, another species (so far) extinct in the wild. We met members of the amazing Guardianes del Río community, the guardians of the river… Who wouldn’t then think with hope about how to return “our” northern platyfish to wild?

With gratitude and respect to all members of the XNP project and all serious fish keepers who consciously and actively contribute to the preservation of species: Thank you!