The Maya pupfish (Cyprinodon maya), known in Spanish as cachorrito gigante, is a highly threatened species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae.[2] It is endemic to Lake Chichancanab in Quintana Roo, Mexico. In almost all places, different Cyprinodon species do not overlap in their range, but there are two notable exceptions and one of these is Lake Chichancanab, which is inhabited by C. maya, C. beltrani, C. esconditus, C. labiosus, C. simus, C. suavium and C. verecundus (the other place where several Cyprinodon species live together are lakes in San Salvador Island, the Bahamas). Living together, the Cyprinodon species in Lake Chichancanab have diverged into different niches. Pupfish typically feed on algae and detritus. In Lake Chichancanab, however, C. maya has become not only the largest species in the genus Cyprinodon, up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, but also the only that catches and eats whole fish (C. desquamator of San Salvador Island is a scale-eater).[3][4] In smaller quantities it eats ostracods and freshwater snails.[5]
| Maya pupfish | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cyprinodontiformes |
| Family: | Cyprinodontidae |
| Genus: | Cyprinodon |
| Species: | C. maya
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cyprinodon maya Humphries & R. R. Miller, 1981
| |
Among the endemic Cyprinodon species in Lake Chichancanab, only C. beltrani and C. labiosus still occur in some numbers in their habitat, while the remaining are virtually—if not fully—extinct in the wild. At least some of these, including C. maya, survive in captivity.[4][6] The primary reason for their decline is introduced species, notably the Nile tilapia and the tetra Astyanax fasciatus.[4][7]
References edit
- ^ Contreras MacBeath, T.; Schmitter-Soto, J. (2019). "Cyprinodon maya". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T6158A3105157. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T6158A3105157.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Cyprinodon maya" in FishBase. August 2019 version.
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2018). Species of Cyprinodon in FishBase. October 2018 version.
- ^ a b c Martin, C.; P.C. Wainwright (2011). "Trophic novelty is linked to exceptional rates of morphological diversification in two adaptive radiations of Cyprinodon pupfish". Evolution. 65 (8): 2197–2212. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01294.x. PMID 21790569.
- ^ Ceballos, G.; E.D. Pardo; L.M Estévez; H.E. Pérez, eds. (2016). Los peces dulceacuícolas de México en peligro de extinción. Fondo de Cultura Económic. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-607-16-4087-1.
- ^ Martin, C.H.; Crawford, J.E.; Turner, B.J.; Simons, L.H. (2016). "Diabolical survival in Death Valley: recent pupfish colonization, gene flow and genetic assimilation in the smallest species range on earth". Proc Biol Sci. 283 (1823): 20152334. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2334. PMC 4795021. PMID 26817777.
- ^ Strecker, U. (2006). "The impact of invasive fish on an endemic Cyprinodon species flock (Teleostei) from Laguna Chichancanab, Yucatan, Mexico". Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 15 (4): 408–418. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0633.2006.00159.x.
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