Mexican Millennium Madness

First I would like to thank the great bunch of Guy’s who came on our year 2000 trip to see the facilities at Morelia and got a feel of both the project and country for them selves. They were Arthur Frisby from England, Kees de Jong from Holland, Jan de Moree from Holland, Ludo Couvreur from Belgium, and myself. Plus of course our good Mexican friend Omar Dominguez Dominguez and his two helpers Esteban and Cuitlahuac. My personnel thanks to them all for nursing me around the course as I broke 2 ribs just before leaving and without there help I would not have made it. Thanks also to our good friend Dr John Lyons and his party who accompanied us for the most rugged part of the trip. Digging us out of the mire on more than one occasion, as well as showing us the professional way of doing things but more about that latter one could not have wanted for better traveling companions.

And so February 3rd Thursday found me once more on the way back to Morelia. This time for reasons of economy we went by Eurostar train under the channel tunnel to Amsterdam, where we stayed the night with Kees and his family before flying out for Mexico with him and Arthur and the others on the 4^th. After a long uneventful flight we duly arrived in Mexico City at 1830hrs the same day however it was past 2000hrs before we got out of customs as two of our party got detached. Outside we were met by Omar and the others for the trip to Morelia where we arrived at 1-0am. So as planned we had a late start on the Saturday and did not get to the Lab to meet all our old friends until early afternoon. As usual Mario came himself to meet and be introduced to our party and then proceeded to give them a conducted tour of all the facilities. Latter Omar informed me that because the visit had been arranged at very short notice he had not had time to get the things that we were supplying to the project this year before we arrived. Talking of which this year we supplied the following items to the project with your kind donations.

24 x Aquariums complete

6 x Large Fish tank stands.

80 Liters of Alcohol

6 x Poly boxes

Plus our friends from Poecilia Netherlands that came this year donated a computer and some software to the project to be used in Mexico. And last but not least Roger Winter donated some additional software.

So as all the above had not arrived we all went together to the suppliers to make sure that they would be ready soon. This year we were a little shorter than usual in what funding we had to spend as apart from what International Groups plus Arthur and I personally contributed or arrange to do at meetings there was no contribution from the UK at all I am ashamed to say. There never has been but in the past I have found the time to do a bit of fund raising myself to make up for the absents of the UK group but this year I just did not have the time. Still back to the report.

Sunday 6^th Feb,

Found us back at one of the sites at (Colonia Guadalupe) that we visited last year, as Kees, Ludo and Jan were keen to see it and it was quite close by, If you remember we headed Southwest on the old road to Mexico City. We passed the Village of Charo on our right and drove through the Village of Colonia Miguel Hidalgo and on to the Village of Colonia Guadalupe. At the far end of this a stream passes under the road. Turn left here and follow along the side of the stream for about ½ a mile to where an irrigation ditch goes off to the right. Turn right again here and it was in this ditch on the right hand side that we found Skiffia bilineata and Allotoca dugesi. The stream had a gentle flow on it and was a little cloudy, and there were more water plant's present than most places in Mexico I had been to. This time however when returning to the main road through the village we crossed over it and followed the ditch up stream a short distance on the other side of the road were we found Xiphophorus helleri, Poeciliopsis infans, Carp, Xenotoca variata, Zoogoneticus quitzeoensis, tilapia, Goodea atripinnis, and Allotoca dugesi. At both these sites the water was. Ph 7-4.Gh 8.Kh 9, and the water temp was 13c. The fish that we collected here we returned to the Lab, before going to another spot on last year’s itinerary namely the Allotoca meeki site at Lake Opopeo. Again if you remember this is probably the last reserves of Allotoca meeki but the last time we came here it was already dark, we still managed to get some fish but unfortunately could not describe it for you as it was dark. This time however it was just after 2-0pm on a lovely sunny day, The spring fed lake sits atop a mountain and is about 3 times the size of a football pitch. It consists of mainly open water but with patches of various plants in the margins and a steam that flows away from this lake down the mountain towards Lake Zirahuen where once you could find this species in number, but alas no more. The Ph was 7-0, Kh3, Gh3, and the water temp was 17c, while the air temp was 28c. Next as it was Sunday we decided to take the lads to see the Sunday Fish  market in Patzcuaro, it is a little like a Sunday market anywhere in Europe. You can get a lot of locally made wares and cloths etc, but here you can also buy for the dinner table all those fish that we are use to see swimming in our tanks. There is every thing from Carp and tilapia right down to and including the Goodea’s or even Dried Poeciliopsis infans. From here we went to yet another old favorite haunt, namely to the Rancho el Molino which is a series of Dammed up springs near a farm building that run away in the direction of Lake Patzcuaro. This time for the first time we actually went around to the side of the springs by the Farm to get some new photographs but we still found the easier to catch in the marshy area at the bottom of the first field. The fish found were Allotoca,dugesi. Allotoca, diazi. Goodea.atripinnis, and Skiffia. lermae the Ph6-4. Gh4. Dh4 water temp 17c air temp 20c. By this time it was getting dark and so we made our way back to Morelia.

Monday, 7^th February.

After breakfast we again chased up the 24 New aquariums and the 6 new stands from the guy’s who were making them as we were getting concerned that we might come back from the field trip and not have room for all the new fish. We also went and bought another 80 litters of alcohol for the preservation lab, plus 6 more large poly box’s for the fish to be bagged down in on our up coming two week field trip. After this we decided to use the rest of the day taking our Dutch and Belgium friends off to Lake Zacapu as they had not been there before, and it was time for another survey of it anyway. On this visit as we had time we investigated both the "La Angostura" and the other side of the lake with pretty much the same results. On this trip in appeared a healthy and thriving environment and the most numerous species all over was Zoogoneticus quitzeoensis but as well as these on the "La Angostura" side we found many more Skiffia SP, cf. lermae plus a few Allotoca sp, and Xenotoca variata. Were as on the other side of the lake with the Zoogoneticus we found a reasonable number of Hubbsina turneri plus a few of the others found on the opposite side of the lake plus Carp & Goodea Atripinnis. While we were there the local park rangers came by, but they were satisfied when I showed them the permits we had for the work we were doing. And it was good to see that someone was taking care of the place now, the water conditions were as follows: - Air temp 24c water temp 19c,Ph 7-5. Gh 3. Kh 4.

Proved to be a very frustrating day. We got to the lab about 9-0am and sorted out and put away the fish we had collected the day before as these had not been put away. Then as the guy with the tanks had only just turned up and started to make them is was obvious that we were not going to be able to use them on our return from the field trip. So we started to sort out what others we could use and make them ready to take the returning fish as this would give them 2 weeks to stabilize before they were needed. And we had only come to the lab intending to load the vehicles for the field trip and then go to breakfast before leaving for our meeting with Dr John Lyons in Guadalajara. Well it was about 12-0pm and we were thinking of going to breakfast when Omar informed us that he needed to take the Suburban mini bus that we would be using to the garage as it had some problems that needed to be sorted out. Well to say that I was not best pleased is an understatement as I had been asking for weeks before that this Suburban and the second vehicle should be given a major service before we came and our party had paid for this to be done. But some times no matter how hard you try fate will conspire against you. Well we did go get some food but were hanging around waiting for the Suburban until 8-15pm. It was when we got it back that we learned that a major fault had occurred in the steering mechanism and that was what took so long. Still when we had not got the van back by 6-0pm and as we were expected in Guadalajara at 7-0pm which was 270 miles to the north we did the only thing we could do. We telephoned John to tell him that we would be late arriving late if we could. So we would hope to see him at breakfast in the morning. We eventually got away just after 8-15 and duly arrived in Guadalajara at 12-30 that night.

Wednesday 9^th February.

Well we finally met up with John’s party over breakfast and after introduction's set of heading west on route 90. After going through Ameca we carried on looking for a site I had visited last in 1996,but some how we over shot our intended target and wound up looking over the bridge at El Rialito to discover the river was dry. A local guy though told us of a spring about a kilometer back so we turned around and went back to look at it. It was on one of those bad bends in the road with a guardrail just like the one we were looking for. Some how I knew that it was not the right place we wanted, and there was no sign of water from the bridge at all but as the locals had told us there was water down there we decided to investigate. Eventually we found the water but the only fish were Ilyodon, ameca. and Xiph.Helleri. The water temp was 16c Air temp 26c.

Next we decided to carry on West away from Ameca until we had traveled 39klm from there. At this point the road crosses over the Rio de la Pola. The spot is just before a Pemex Service Station where a road goes of to the right. We stopped on the corner intending to take that right turn when we had finish here. We found Ilyodon ameca and Scartomyzon mascotae. The water temp was 16c air temp was 27c the Ph 8-2 Gh 6 Kh 8. After this as I have said we took that left turn and continued on until we arrived at a village. Here we took the first turning left going straight through the village and on up into the mountains on a very rough track for many klms. "Thank God we got that steering fixed". Any way after quite some time we eventually arrived at the Rio de la Pola again but much further up stream. However the results were exactly the same as at the lower point excepts that here we also found a large shoal of tilapia. We turned around here and headed back eventually going back through the same village this time heading towards Ameca. At the bottom of the hill after passing through the village again at the Puente Davalos we decided to investigate a small river that flowed under and it was to be here that we eventually found what we were looking for namely the Allodontichthys polylepis. Together with many Ilyodon ameca and tilapia, the water temp was noticeably warmer at 18c while the air temp was 26c and the water perimeters were Ph 8-3 Gh 7 Kh 6. By now the light was going fast, so we headed back to Ameca were we had planned to stay the night, so by the time we were 10 kilometers away from Ameca it was already quite dark. But none the less I thought that I had spotted the place that we had been looking for on the way out. The only place were we knew we should find Allotoca goslinei, as we had found them there once before in 1996. So we decided to make this our first stop in the morning before heading of into the Magdalena area.

Thursday 10^th February.

After a panic when one of our party thought that he had lost all his money " Which we did find" we eventually found ourselves back at the place just 10klm west of Ameca that I had spotted the night before. And sure enough it was the same site as I had visited with Arthur and Derick Lambert in 1996. It was the upper Rio Potrero Grande the water temp here was 11c the air temp 18c and the Ph 8-2 Gh 10 Kh 11 and the water Oxygen was 5-07. As well as the A, goslinei we also found many Ilyodon ameca here. When we had finished here we turned around and headed for the Magdalena basin to try to collect some Ameca splendens from the No1 spring at the campsite at the headwaters of the Rio.Teuchitlan. Now we had had a report of a solitary male Zoogoneticus tequila being found there this year so with the Electro fishing gear that John was using we really hoped that we would find some if they were indeed still there. However after a pretty good search of the River the new cut and the springs the only Zoogoneticus we found was one solitary quitzeoensis female and no others. I am happy to say though that the ameca’s were there still in reasonable numbers. We also found Bullhead Catfish, Poeciliopsis infans, Poecilia butleri and of course tilapia. From here we went across to another old friend the El Palo Verde looking for Allotoca maculata. But found it looking rather as it had when we went there in 1996 with very little water and no sign of the fish. Instead of like last year when they were plentiful. Failing here we moved across to the other side of the San Marcos road just a few yards further on were adjacent to the road there is a pond besides the road near the Guamuchil swimming pool. Now we had fish here before without much success but we wanted to see if the Electro gear would turn anything new up but all we found was Poeciliopsis infans and tilapia again. We then carried on the road towards San Marcos and between 3 & 4klms latter we found a newly cleaned out stream on the right of the road at the sign for the Rancho San Isidro. Investigating here we think we have found were the fish from the El Palo Verde go to when it’s waters get low, as here we found Allotoca maculata. Xen, eiseni. Xen, melanosoma. and Poeciliopsis infans. The water temp was 17c the air temp 18c the Ph 8-0. Kh 10. Gh 8. Because of the extra work at the beginning of the day we were running late again and it was already nearly 8-0pm and we had a long drive from here to Puerto Vallarta where we arrived at 1-30am.

Friday, 11 February,

After yesterday we had a late breakfast and finally left the Hotel about 10-30 and headed back North for about 45 min’s to the Rio Mascota where we found Poecilia butleri. Sicydium multipunctatum. Awaous banana. and Pomadasys bayanus the water temp here was 23c and the air 27c the water was Ph 8-2.Gh6.Kh5. Back on the road we headed inland towards the mountains. After driving for another 30 min’s and just after crossing over a small stream we turned left signposted to the Cortboneras Agua Spa Caliente. We stopped and fished just a short way down the lane on the left where we found. Poeciliopsis viriosa. Cichlasoma beani. Poecilia butleri. Gobiomorus maculatus and Awaous banana. The water temp was 26c air 28c the water was Ph 6.5. Gh5. Kh4. After this we decided to have an early night and went back to the hotel before going to a very nice seafood restaurant were we enjoyed a very good evening’s entertainment.

Saturday 12^th February,

Breakfast at 8-0am, but then we were given the bad news that our small truck would not start. So after all the mileage that we had done we at first thought that the alternator must have packed up, but in the end after taking it to a garage we only had to go and buy a new battery. So it was not until after 10-0am that we headed out for the Rio Tomatlan arriving there about 12-30pm. Here we found only Agonostomus monticola. Gobiomorus maculatus. Awaous banana. Eleotris picta and Lile gracilis. We then continued south on the coast road stopping off to make a side visit to a Dry Forrest Field Station run by a Mexico City University right up in the hills. After we carried on along the coastal road turning off to the right to go down to the El Tecuan Laguna that is situated in the grounds of a run down hotel below a mango grove. On the shore on one side of the lagoon was a small coconut grove and as far as we could see was a totally landlocked lagoon. But the sea is crashing on the coastal rocks not a 100 meters away and so it was obvious that in times of storms if not just high tide the sea would easily inundate this lagoon. Consequently the water was totally saline with a Ph higher than 9. The water temp was 26c and the air 29c. The fish found was Poeciliopsis scalei. From here we continued along the coast road to a little coastal village that John knew of where there was another of those great little seafood restaurants where we had a meal before driving up into the mountains to Autlan arriving at the hotel Autlan around midnight.

Sunday 13^th February.

Well today was the day that Ludo and I drew the short straw. You see not only were we by this time a day behind on our planned itinerary but we were also getting behind on our bagging down of the fish previously caught. And we were not really needed from the point of view of catching fish. So much as we would have liked to have gone along and seen the habitats we decided that it would be more constructive if we stayed back and bagged up the fish. So the rest of the lads took of to the Rio Cuzalapa which is in the Marabasco basin northeast of the town of Cuautitlán a tributary of the Rio Purification. Here they found Poecilia chica. Poeciliopsis beanschi. Xenotaenia resolanae. Ilyodon Xantusi / furcidens and Sicydium multipunctatum. The Water temp was 24c and the Air temp was 26c the water Chemistry was as follows Ph 8-3Gh2.Kh2. and the dissolved oxygen was 6-7. From here they returned by way of Highway 15 and some local roads to the Río Purificación, a Pacific Ocean tributary, near the town of Purificación, at the Arroyo Tecolote (1 hr drive northwest). The Water temp was 28c and the Air temp was 30c the water Chemistry was as follows Ph 8-0. Gh5.Kh4.The fish found were Poecilia chica. Poeciliopsis baenschi. Xenotaenia resolanae. Ilyodon xantusi/ furcidens. Poeciliopsis turneri, and tilapia.

Monday 14^th February.

When we went for the vehicles we learnt that both were out of commission. The battery table and bracket on the Suburban had to be welded up and the water pump on the other vehicle had to be replaced. So we did not get them back until 11-40am, as a result John had to go on ahead as he had a meeting arranged with some friends from the local CUCSUR staff to discuss projects on the Rio Ayuquila. But we had arranged to meet him up in the mountains near the Las Joyas field station in the heart of the Sierra De Manantlan biosphere reserve and a couple of his team waited to take us there.

First we went to El Grullo. From here we followed an ashfelt road for 14 klms southwest alongside a fast flowing stream to the village where we met John. From there it was a 13 klms drive over rough tracks into the heart of the biosphere reserve and the Rio Ayuquila.    The water conditions were as follows. Ph 8-8. Gh 12. Kh8. The fish found here were Allodontichthys zonistius. Poeciliopsis baenschi. Poecilia butleri. and Ilyodon furcidens/xantusi. And Cichlasoma istlanum. Our return journey from here though was to be a bit of farce. As we had only gone a few miles back over the mountain track when the Suburban got a puncture. Now normally this would be no problem but when we went to get the jack there wasn’t one there. Unfortunately the one from the other vehicle was the wrong type so John sent his vehicle ahead to the village to get a jack. While they were away a local farmer came past and loaned us his. So imagine the look on our faces when we eventually got our spare on to find out that it had very little air in it. All we could do was thank the farmer for his help and wait for Johns people came back with the jack then ask them to take our spare tire and get it fixed and by this time it was getting dark. As you might guess by this time I am swearing that I will never use the University vehicles again but thanks to John we did get back that night.

Tuesday 15^th February.

As we had to get the puncture repaired and John had some more meetings to attend so we decided reluctantly to say our farewells over breakfast thanking him very much once again for all his help. We finally left the hotel at 12-0noon and drove across country on local roads via El Grullo, Tonaya. Alista. Then around the north side of the volcano Mount Colima, with it towering over us it was so close. Then picking up the route 110 just south of Tecalitlan. From here we headed south on the 110 a spot that John had told us of but found only Ilyodon’s. Then we tried another 3 spots between a village called the 21^st de Noviembre heading north to the town of Tamazula, but could not find the Allodonticthy anywhere. We found the Hotel Real de la Loma atop a hill overlooking Tamazula were we decided to stay the night. The Hotel structure wasn’t at all bad and there were some terrific views from there.

Wednesday 16^th February.

By the way if you should ever stay here I should warn you though to order your breakfast early as it took us one and a half hours next day to get breakfast after ordering it. Oh and "surprise" "surprise" when we got to the vehicles we found that we had yet another puncture to be repaired. It was about 11-0am before we found ourselves heading north east on the 110 out of Tamazula in the direction of Chapala. About 3 miles out near the village of Santa Clara we decided to try the Rio Tamazulae again now that we were upstream of the town. So at this point with the river clearly visible just one field way we turned of off the 110 on to a rough track leading down to the river and this time we had success. The Ph here was 7'5 Gh 11 Kh 12 the water temp was 21c and the air 26c. Here we found Allodontichthys tamazulae. Xen eiseni. Poecilia butleri, and an Ilyodon and Astyanax species. It is also possible that we have Allodontichthys hubbsi but until we get the fish back in the aquarium and sort them we can not be certain.

Leaving here at 1-30pm we continued north on the 110 until we eventually turned right off of this towards the village of Jaripo. Shortly after turning off there should have been a fast flowing mountain river down in the valley on your right hand side or at least there was last year, but when we got there this year at 3-45pm there were just a few pools of water. The fish we found here were. Xiph, helleri. Poeciliopsis infans. and Zoogoneticus quitzeoensis. From here we continued on the same road turning left for Aquiles Serdan. Then driving through this village on it’s dirt road you will eventually pick up an asphalt road and carrying on until you are about 1 ½ klms before the main Zamora to Los Reyes road and while still on this asphalt road we found the pond we were looking for it was on the left-hand side. This was an apparently spring fed serious of ponds lined with rushes the bottoms appeared to be clay and the ground around was a sticky red soil. Here we found an Allotoca species. This year in the ponds we only found 10 of the Allotoca sp as but as we were leaving we found that the ponds drained under this road and we had not spotted it the last time we were here as it had been getting quite dark when we left. From this stream we got many more of the species. The water conditions were water temp 17c air temp 27c Ph 6-8.Gh 3. Kh 3. From here we went into Los Reyes where we stayed the night in a hotel on the edge of town.

Thursday 17^th February.

We left Los Reyes to go back to Tocumbo. Where we went to the Park Ojo de Agua. Which is a small recreational park in the middle of Tocumbo. The park contains a swimming pool and some ball courts and there is a small stream running away from the swimming pool and it was here under the aquatic vegetation that we found Chapalichthys pardalis. Goodea atripinnis, and a Poeciliopsis infans. It is also were Arthur gave us a bit of a scare when he fell down the bank fortunately though he only grazed his leg. The water temp was20c air temp 27c Ph 7-2. Gh 6. Kh5. From here we went back through Los Reyes to the Police box on the edge of that town on the Uruapan road in search of Allotoca regalis. But since we were there last year a lot of building had been going on and much of the stream had been put into pipes and all could find were some bronze swordtails and some Ilyodon. So we carried on towards Uruapan and about 1klm up the road tried again but only found the same. Once more we carried on for about another 2 klms to where the road took a 90* left turn in the little village of La Cofradia. It was here about 100 meters up the road from the bend another very fast flowing stream passes under the road and in here we at last had success. The Ph here was 8-0. Gh3. Kh3. Water temp 20c and the air temp 31c. Next we drove through Uruapan and on to the Lado Este Del Parqueurbano Ecologico De Uruapan . This site was just like a field on the edge of town with a good stream running through it and many marshy areas. Now we first fished the stream expecting to find the fish there but we ended up finding almost all of them in the marshy areas amongst the plants instead. The fish found were Allotoca caterina. Astyanax mexicana. Ilyodon whitei, and guppy’s. The water temp was 20c. Air temp 22c. The Ph 7-2. Gh 3. Kh 3.Now over the last few days we had been able to collect the fish quickly and in good number at most of the sites and so we were able to get back to base a day early despite all the breakdowns, arriving about 8-45pm. We there for found homes for the newly caught fish in the aquariums and prepared a few tanks for the next day, while leaving the bagged up fish to be dealt with then.

First early on Friday we took the lads down town to have a good look around a few of the local Aquarist shops. Then went to the lab and found homes for all the fish. The major part of the day though was taken up with waiting around the Lab for a TV team that was coming down to film the project and these crazy foreigners that were helping. They were supposed to come at 1-0pm but eventually turned up at about 6-0pm. As far as the fish are concerned I am pleased to say that most of the fish came through in good order unfortunately though there was one species that we lost namely the Allodontichthys polylepis we had gone to such great lengths to find. All 10 of them had perished. So the Omar said that he would make a day trip especially to collect this one for the project in the near future before it finally disappeared in the wild. Once all the fish were away and the television people had been, we took the lads down town to the shops before going out for an evening meal and enjoying the nightlife of Morelia. Saturday was mostly spent in shopping and a little sightseeing. Leaving all Sunday for the preparation for departure on Monday morning by the great Inter City coaches to Mexico City and them by taxi to the airport

                                                                The end.

select either,

Back  or  Next report   or  Home

Mail to:- ivandibble@blueyonder.co.uk