Hybopsis amecae (Chernoff & Miller, 1986)

Conservation: Hybopsis amecae is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (EW) extinct in the wild (2018). The last known record of capture for Hybopsis amecae was on 21 April 1969 in a tributary to Rio Ameca just west of Ameca, on the road to Mascota. It does not appear to have been a common species; of 2,895 fishes collected in the upper Ameca River basin between 1939 and 1969, only 46 are H. amecae, after that, intensive collecting in the basin by several investigators during for 15 years revealed no shiners (Chernoff & Miller, 1986:177).

The species was considered extinct in 2000 but was later found in 2005 and 2008. In 2014, intensive surveys during ten months in the entire range of its distribution, and using different sampling techniques, did not find the species. In 2016, 40 individuals were reintroduced in its native range. Recent surveys have recorded the species there, but it is unclear if the population is viable. Based on this, the species is considered Extinct in the Wild. If the introduced population proves to be viable in the next few years, a reassessment should be conducted and a change in the category may be considered (from Domínguez Domínguez, 2018).

The exact cause of the population decline is not known. There are six introduced species in the Teuchitlán River that may be affecting this species. Introduced species represent 90% of total biomass and abundance of the species collected in the river.