Skiffia

Taxobox
name = "Skiffia"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Cyprinodontiformes
familia = Goodeidae
genus = "Skiffia"
genus_authority = Meek, 1902
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

"Skiffia" is a genus of goodeid fish that contains four species, endemic to the Mesa Central area of Mexico.

They typically have a limited tolerance to environmental degradation, and so are susceptible to anthropogenic disturbance. The exception to this is "Skiffia bilineata", which is comparatively more tolerant to eutrophication, turbidity and seasonal changes in environmental conditions cite journal | author=De la Vega-Salazar, M.Y., Avila-Luna, E. & Macías-García, C. | year=2003 | title=Ecological evaluation of local extinction: the case of two genera of endemic Mexican fish, "Zoogoneticus" and "Skiffia" | journal=Biodiversity & Conservation | volume=12 | pages=2043–2056] . All four "Skiffia" species face some conservation threat and have suffered local extinctions in more than 50% of areas studied where they were previously known to have existed cite journal | author=De la Vega-Salazar, M.Y., Avila-Luna, E. & Macías-García, C. | year=2003 | title=Ecological evaluation of local extinction: the case of two genera of endemic Mexican fish, "Zoogoneticus" and "Skiffia" | journal=Biodiversity & Conservation | volume=12 | pages=2043–2056] . "Skiffia lermae" and "Skiffia bilineata" are the most widely distributed of the genus, found over the states of Michoacán, Jalisco and Guanajuato. "Skiffia multipunctata" has a restricted distribution in Michoacán and "Skiffia francesae" has been declared extinct in the wild by the IUCN [IUCN Red List - http://www.redlist.org] cite journal | author=De la Vega-Salazar, M.Y., Avila-Luna, E. & Macías-García, C. | year=2003 | title=Ecological evaluation of local extinction: the case of two genera of endemic Mexican fish, "Zoogoneticus" and "Skiffia" | journal=Biodiversity & Conservation | volume=12 | pages=2043–2056] . There is only one locality from which captive "S. francesae" stocks have been derived (Teuchitlán). Captive populations of "S. francesae" are maintained in a variety of locations by aquarium hobbyists, research institutes and zoos. The history of this particular species is unclear, but they are believed to have descended from one stock collected by Dr. R. Miller in 1976 Langhammer, J.K. (1995) "Skiffia francesae": A fish on the edge of tomorrow. Can we save it? "Aquatic Survival: Bulletin of the Aquatic Conservation Network" 4: Dec 1995.] ; it appears that no other stocks descended from independent samples from this region.

pecies

There are four described species [FishBase genus | genus = Skiffia | month = January | year = 2006] :
* Twoline skiffia, "Skiffia bilineata" (Bean, 1887 [Bean, T.H. (1887) Description of five new species of fish sent by Prof A. Dugés from the province of Guanajuato, Mexico. "Proc. US. Nat. Mus." 10: 370 – 375] .
* Golden skiffia, "Skiffia francesae" Kingston, 1978 [Kingston, D.I. (1978) "Skiffia francesae", a new species of Goodeid fish from Western Mexico. "Copeia" 3: 503 – 508] .
* Olive skiffia, "Skiffia lermae" Meek, 1902 [Meek. S.E. (1902) A contribution to the ichthyology of Mexico Field Columbian Museum. "Zoology" 6: 63 – 1128] .
* Spotted skiffia, "Skiffia multipunctata" Pellegrin, 1901 [Pellegin, J. (1901) Poissons reguellis par M.L. Diguet, dans l’État de Jalisco (Mexique). "Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris" 7: 204 – 207] .

References