FOBIA  Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium

The golden skiffa or golden sawfin

The golden skiffa or golden sawfin, (skiffa francesae)
Is a  member of the goodeid family from Mexico.
The golden skiffa is extinct in the wild, but thanks to the conservation efforts of the Belle Isle Aquarium, it lives on in the tanks of aquariums all over the World. Originally found in only a few small rivers in Mexico, the skiffa was exterminated by Man. Careless people released red platies, a common aquarium fish into their habitat. the platies reproduce much faster, produce more young and eat more food than the little skiffa.
Because of these factors, the skiffa was unable to compete for resources, and it was eventually driven to extinction  in its  native waters.
In the late 1970's, a trip was made in an effort to capture additional specimens for study. The fish were brought back to the United States and donated to the Belle Isle Aquarium, among others. Eventually, all of the populations except the ones kept here died out.
From the few remaining individuals, Belle Isle was able to successfully rear hundreds of offspring over   the past twenty years. 
All of the golden skiffa found in other aquariums originated from the work done on Belle Isle. For our efforts, the Belle Isle Aquarium was given the prestigious Bean Award in 2000 for long term captive propagation.

Golden skiffa give birth to live young. The females are silvery with a few black spots, and the males are golden in color with blue patches and unusually shaped dorsal and anal fins.

Pictures by Diana Dubbeld