Dry springs, maybe not always a catastrophe?
I think my small note got entirely overlooked (regarding dramatic news-items).Here in Slovenia, and even more in Croatia, Bosnia and other parts of the balkans, we have springs which dry up every year. Still, there is fish in them. In the dry summertime, fish survive in underground waters, and they re-appear above ground in the next fall, when the springs are again filled with water. I personally know a spring where several tens of Phoxinus lumaireul do this every year, and whole species disappear from view every year in other parts of the Balkans.So please, please can someone re-check those Skiffia and Characodon -localities after rain and again after some "time to allow for breeding and re-building up numbers"! I know it's a long shot, but fish which are confined to springs for decades might well have some way of surviving dry spells ....
link
see for instance: http://www.devonkarst.org.uk/Proteus%20Project/PTPH3.htmlAnd then scroll down untill you get some info on Paraphoxinus ghetaldi
Hi Paul, you are absolutely
Hi Paul, you are absolutely right. I also think that species adopted to springs in dry areas have found possibilities to survive. Otherwise, there won't be any. If you refer to the projects started in France and the comments about the bad year of Goodeids: In the case of Characodon, the situation is different due there is water in El Toboso, but the species seems to be at least reduced in numbers because of too many Gambusia. In the Teuchitlán spring, tequila might be extirpated by Poecilia mexicana that prefers nearly the same nourishment and is stronger. And the project in France with francesae deals with the old strain that disappeared in the 1960s. Concerning Characodon of Amado Nervo, the small creek is nearly complete overwhelmed with terrestrial vegetation and there is only few water left. No idea, what to do in such a situation. However, in all these cases, the situation is different to the situation of the Cuayacapan spring in Sayula, there might indeed be fish left in the space between the rocks, where water may still be present. Here we indeed have to wait for new information. Information about biotops in Mexico, its behaviour and history is absolutely rare, and often, we just can compare with situations otherwhere. We have to see the fact, that the area of the Mesa is as big as half of Europe, and only few scientists are looking after them, so it might take time (the spring has been detected recently, though it isn't really so far from the west end of the Chapala lake). I will ask for information about monitoring ideas and projects concerning this especial Sayula valley area and Characodon habitats and complement to this topic.Mike