Aphanius farsicus

In 2000, this tiny and very nice species was known from 10 independent springs in Lake Maharlo basin in Iran. Since, all but one spring has dried out and in late 2013, even in the last spring, no Aphanius could be found anymore. The species is Critically endangered but might even be extinct in the wild now. I started to breed it with two wild caught pairs collected in early 2007 from Pirbarnoo spring close to the Iranian city of Shiraz. In 2008 Pirbarnoo spring dried out and the population is now extinct in the wild. In the first summer, I breed about 200 juveniles but spawners and all but two males and one female juveniles died by an accident in early winter. Since these bottlenecks, I was able to keep a broodstock of about 10 pairs and since 2015, the permanent stock has been increased to 20-25 pairs in a 600 Liter tank. Since 2012, few juveniles have been excluded from breeding due to malformations of the vertebra column, maybe an effect of inbreeding? Also, I always breed more males than females. Juveniles have been given to several enthusiasts already.