Saving Mexico’s Goodeids: Plan G update Feb 25

The Laguna de Sayula in Jalisco, Mexico, was once home to five species of Goodeid fish. However, excessive water extraction for agriculture and declining rainfall due to climate change have drastically reduced water levels, wiping out most of these species from their natural habitats. By 2019, only one species, Goodea atripinnis, remained in the area.

As part of Plan G – the international collaboration to save the 40 species of threatened Goodeids – experts have launched an ambitious project to restore Goodeid populations to the Laguna de Sayula basin, with support from the Junta Intermunicipal de Medio Ambiente Lagunas (JIMAL) and the Wilhelma Botanical and Zoological Garden.

In January 2024, a team from Plan G, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, and JIMAL conducted a week-long research expedition across 80 sites in the basin. Their goal was to find any surviving populations, identify potential reintroduction habitats, and establish a breeding programme.

A major milestone was achieved with the successful transfer of approximately 250 Skiffia francesae from the Fish Ark in Morelia to a specially designed geocistern in Amacueca. This facility, established in partnership with JIMAL and local authorities, will serve as a breeding centre to prepare fish for future reintroductions.

Searching for Survivors

Despite the widespread drying of rivers and streams, the expedition uncovered some hopeful signs. In the Arroyo Citalá near the village of Citalá, researchers found small numbers of Xenotoca melanosoma, one of the missing Goodeid species. Even more encouraging was the discovery of a strong population of Zoogoneticus purhepechus in a river near Teocuitatlán de Corona, an area where it was thought to have disappeared. These findings provide a critical foundation for conservation efforts, as both species were relocated to JIMAL’s breeding facilities for protection and population recovery.

Additionally, the discovery of Ilyodon whitei—a species previously unrecorded in the region—raises questions about historical water connections between basins. Further studies will determine whether this population is native or introduced, influencing future conservation strategies.

Next Steps: Expansion and Community Engagement

With these promising results, Plan G is now focused on expanding conservation efforts. Additional geocisterns will be installed to house Xenotoca melanosoma, Zoogoneticus purhepechus, and Ameca splendens—a species believed to be extinct in the wild in the Sayula basin. Efforts are underway to locate any remaining Ameca splendens in private ponds, reservoirs, or local collections. A public awareness campaign, including search posters, aims to engage local communities in the hunt for this lost species.

In Amacueca, scientists will begin experiments to assess the impact of invasive Guppies on native fish populations. Meanwhile, discussions with local authorities in Teocuitatlán de Corona will explore ways to improve water quality and habitat conditions for the remaining Goodeid populations.

A Hopeful Future

The Laguna de Sayula restoration project is well underway, with three key missions already making significant progress:

• Returned Skiffia francesae to valley where it was extirpated – Successfully completed
• Identifying future habitats – Successfully completed
• Locating lost Goodeid species – Two-thirds completed

With continued research, habitat restoration, and local engagement, Plan G aims to restore these unique and endangered fish to their rightful place in Mexico’s waterways. The road ahead is long, but the mission is on track, and hope remains strong for the future of Mexico’s Goodeid fishes.

As Mike Köck, Plan G’s Chair, says, “Mexico is showing the change it is capable of and deserves our support and trust. We can do this!”

If you are interested in contributing to this urgent programme to save Mexico’s highly threatened Goodeid species, get in touch today.

Michael Köck European tour update 4: Stuttgart, Germany – Caen, France

On 23 September 23, I took an early train from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe Zoo, Germany. I was welcomed by Matthias Reinschmidt, the zoo’s director, who is passionate about birds, especially parrots. We spent the first hour talking about his breeding successes with rare parrot species, and then visited the aquarium, where he showed us a group of Ataeniobius toweri, a Goodeid species from San Luis Potosí, which the zoo keeps. He showed interest in Plan G and promised me that he would organise an exhibition for Goodeids and support the conservation plan financially once it had been set up.

After Karlsruhe, I travelled to Pforzheim to fulfil a promise: Weeks earlier, I had met a retired teacher who had spent several years in Mexico as a paleontologist and now dedicates himself to teaching science  to young people. One project was about the territorial behaviour, use of space and reproduction of Xenotoca doadrioi. I offered him the opportunity to talk to the children about Plan G and the species they keep, and he was very enthusiastic. Even the press was present and ‘Dino’, as he is called by his friends, organised a nice event. He also promised to support Plan G by organising a charity event by the end of the year to raise money. A big man with a big heart!

The following day I headed to Zurich, Switzerland. Holger Kraus, the curator in charge, welcomed me and gave me a tour of the zoo. There are some wonderful projects happening and lots of funding has been invested by donors. He has a great passion for fish and praised Plan G as ‘the blueprint for the One Plan approach’. Unfortunately, Zurich Zoo limits its financial support to only seven ongoing projects, without the possibility of adding another one or incorporating Plan G into one of them. But he offered me an interesting option: Zurich Zoo has excellent contacts with the Max Planck Institute, and he favours collaboration on a scientific project that is led and paid for by the zoo that involves artificial intelligence. This project would give us the opportunity, for example, to identify fish that we have released into the wild without having to physically tag them beforehand. A huge advantage, because we need nothing more than a high-resolution image of the fish before we start the reintroduction.

I then had to travel back to Stuttgart. Unfortunately, last-minute changes to the timetable made it necessary to travel there and back, but there was no way to change this. I was welcomed by Isabel Koch, the aquarium curator, and Stefanie Reska, the curator for conservation projects. The Wilhelma zoological-botanical garden, the full name of Stuttgart Zoo, has been supporting a Goodeid conservation project run by the Aquatic Biology Laboratory of the university of Morelia for several years, so this visit was essentially to give an account and provide first-hand information. But Plan G was so well received that Isabel and Stefanie decided to increase the amount of funding to support this project and they promised to use their contacts and influence to help increase our chances of funding and help us develop key elements to increase our impact. A very generous offer that I gladly accepted!

On 26 September, I travelled from Zurich to Basel by train. Together with Zurich Zoo, Basel Zoo is one of the two largest zoos in Switzerland. There I met a good old friend of mine, Fabian Schmidt, aquarium curator, and presented Plan G to him, staff from the entire zoo and the director. Plan G was again very well received, and Basel Zoo wants to support the project financially, but will have to wait until the position of conservation project curator is filled again early next year. More information will then be available. In the afternoon, I travelled by TGV train at a speed of more than 200 km per hour / 124 miles per hour to Paris and from there to the vicinity of Fontainebleau in the evening. The curator of L’Aquarium Tropical, Charles-Edouard Fusari, had invited me to spend the night with him and to travel to Paris with him the next morning to talk about Plan G.

In the morning of 27 September, Charles-Edouard and I visited L’Aquarium Tropical. He immediately promised me his support, but as the aquarium does not charge an entrance fee, he can only donate small amounts, he said between EUR 1,000 and 3,000 per year. I was happy to agree. Every coin counts, and any support is very welcome. I also gave him information about Plan G for Alexis Lecu from the Parc Zoologique de Paris. Alexis wanted to see me to talk about Plan G but was unavailable due to a veterinary congress in Canada. Fortunately, he is also the vet at L’Aquarium Tropical, so I took the opportunity to introduce him to Plan G via Charles-Edouard. In the evening, I took another train to travel to Caen on the coast of the English Channel. The plan for the next day was to take the ferry to Portsmouth in the morning, but the visits to the UK and finally Hungary will be part of the fifth and final travel report. Stay tuned!

Michael Köck European tour update 3: Nuremberg, Germany – Stuttgart, Germany

On 11 September, I took the bus from Leipzig to Nuremberg and arrived at the zoo around noon. Director Dag Encke left an ongoing meeting to say hello and scheduled our meeting an hour later, so I had some time to visit the zoo. Nuremberg is one of only few zoos in Europe that house manatees and even dolphins. Though an hour seems a long time, I didn’t get further than seeing these animals, partly due to a heavy rain shower that rolled in.

The meeting itself was awesome! Plan G was – again – well received and several possibilities of supporting this conservation plan through the zoo were evaluated. We found a possible way to combine Goodeid conservation with the zoo’s work on Ambystoma dumerilii, the Lake Patzcuaro salamander endemic to the Pátzcuaro lake drainage.

We also discussed several support possibilities through the zoo and with organisations associated with zoos, some of which were already approached by me, others scheduled for next year.

I spent the night in Prague and visited Plzeň Zoo on 12 September, which is about one hour west of Prague. This zoo has built a house for endangered fish species, including Goodeids, so it was of course worth a visit. Curator Tomaš Peš picked me up at the train station, brought me to the zoo and showed me the exhibition. I was really impressed to see threatened fish from all continents in one room, but even more impressed that the zoo drew attention to the cooperation between hobbyists and zoos – an important relationship in conservation that I have been talking about for years.

After lunch with Tomaš, director Jiří Trávníček and his son – both of them experts in Mexican reptiles, especially rattle snakes – I presented Plan G to them and other representatives of the zoo. Already during the presentation, I was offered financial support for Plan G for this and the coming year, so Plzeň Zoo joined the Goodeid conservation alliance!

The next day I proceeded to Zoo Hellabrunn in Munich. Thanks to curator Eric Diener, who became a dear friend on this trip, I was allowed to sleep in the zoo for three nights. The wish in Munich to display Goodeids and contribute to their conservation is high, so we discussed several possible approaches, including linking Goodeid conservation with that of an Ambystoma species. A few days later I received an encouraging email from Eric, saying that Zoo Hellabrunn wants to support Plan G, initially for three years with €5,000 to €10,000 annually, focusing on a reintroduction project or a project related to reforestation.

After enjoying a weekend off in Munich, I visited Zoo Hellbrunn. Though the name sounds very similar to Munich Zoo Hellabrunn, this zoo is located in Salzburg, the Austrian city that many people connect with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sound of Music. I met Lisa Sernow, the responsible curator and Mario Katzinger, who is responsible for everything related to South and Central America. We talked about Plan G and its dimensions, with the result that the aquarium in the so-called South America house will be changed into a Goodeid tank to create awareness and collect donation from visitors. The zoo is also willing to directly support Plan G.

So, six days, four zoos, one hundred per cent support – what else can be asked for! After another day in Salzburg, due to severe flooding in Austria which had caused all train and bus connections to be canceled, I finally arrived in Vienna to spend a few days with my family and take a well-deserved vacation.

Then on 22 September, I was on the bus again to meet a dear friend in Stuttgart and prepare more meetings for the Monday, starting with the Zoo in Karlsruhe that has its own conservation foundation, the “Artenschutzstiftung”. The meeting there and a few more in Switzerland and France will be part of the Travel Report number four, so stay tuned!