Golden shot habitat, characteristics and conservation

The golden shot shares habitat and is very similar to Skiffia multipunctata. In fact, they are able to mate with each other and produce fertile offspring.

The golden shot is a fish of small dimensions with rather large scales. It is considered endemic to the Teuchitlán River, in Jalisco, Mexico. However, he has not been seen again on the site. Despite this, it has managed to adapt to life in captivity, so it has survived in this way.

Formally, its scientific name is Skiffia francesae and it belongs to the family Goodeidae. This group is characterized by several species endemic to Mexico. Read on to find out what is known about this fish.

Last seen

In 1978, Dolores Irene Kingston found and described the gold shotfish for the first time. On that occasion he also took the opportunity to export some specimens from Mexico to the Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan, where they were kept in captivity and preservation.

After this first description, an attempt was made on several occasions to recapture this species, searching in regions close to the original area. To do this, the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo was in charge of carrying out the search, without obtaining any results. For this reason, this fish was classified as an extinct species in the wild.

Golden Shot Habitat

Because it has not been found again in free life, there is little information about its habitat. However, in the area where it was last seen, it is believed that it inhabited areas with dense aquatic vegetation and temperatures of up to 26 degrees Celsius.

Physical characteristics

This fish can reach 50 millimeters long, has a flattened body and oval shape. Also, its dorsal fin begins after its pectoral fins, almost halfway through its body, with differences in its shape, depending on sex. The mouth of the species has an upward termination, causing a curvature in the region of its lower belly.

Its coloration is golden, with certain dark tones on the edges of its fins. Its body may have certain gray spots, which become more evident when it reaches its tail. These fish have between 30 and 35 scales on each side, which stand out for being quite large in relation to their small body.

Sexual dimorphism

Males are distinguished by some indentations they have on their dorsal fin. In addition to that its pigmentation is bright gold, with some spots of the same color on the fins. What's more, its coloration is more vibrant, during its breeding season.

On the contrary, females have more opaque shades, where their fins look transparent or gray. Also, their fins are slightly larger, compared to those of males.

Golden Draft Feeding

In captivity it is kept quite well by means of food in the form of flakes. It has also been tried with live food, such as Daphnia, giving good results. However, it usually prefers to eat algae, so it seems to have herbivorous habits. He has even been found eating some that are embedded in the walls of the aquarium.

In early descriptions of Kingston, it was observed that it fed on diatoms, small snails and pollen grains. In addition, its jaw is full of bifid teeth that help it scrape various surfaces.

Reproduction of the golden shot

Within controlled environments, the breeding season occurs between April and November, when temperatures remain at 24 degrees Celsius. However, their number of offspring is minimal, compared to other species of the same family. Which may be due to the high level of inbreeding that it presents, since they do not have much genetic variation.

It is a viviparous species, whose number of offspring ranges from 4 to 12, while its gestation period increases or decreases depending on the temperature. At 22 degrees Celsius, this process lasts only 8 weeks, giving birth to offspring with a size of 11 millimeters long.

Conservation status of the golden shot

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, it is listed as extinct in free life. This is only one level before total extinction, with their last hope being the captive handling of surviving specimens.

This fish has been kept in aquariums since it was described until today, so it can be considered as a domesticated species. However, all individuals come from the descendants of the same litter. This has caused little genetic variation and high inbreeding to be maintained.

Golden Shot Threats

For these reasons, one of its biggest problems is the appearance of malformations in the offspring, complicating the needs of the fish. That is why its maintenance in captivity is in danger.

As if that were not enough, its natural habitat is being heavily exploited and polluted. This causes the chances of reintroducing the species to be reduced. In this way it is being cornered, causing it to reach extinction soon.

Unfortunately, the species is being pushed to the brink of extinction. While, on the one hand, endemism affects it in captivity, the exploitation of its habitat prevents it from being reintroduced. The battle for this fish's survival is just beginning, but it may end in a tragic end. In some cases, it is incredible how it is easy for man to disappear an animal from the face of the earth.

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