Río Necaxa, Huachinango

Río Necaxa, Huachinango, Puebla, Mexico

Other names: Río Texcapa, Río Tecolutla, Río Totolapa

Nearest town: Huachinango

GPS coordinates: 20.193307, -98.036793

Altitude: 1320 m

Habitat description: Shallow, fast-flowing river with a rocky bottom and slightly turbid water. Dense vegetation on the bottom and especially in the shallow water near the bank, where the current is not so strong.

Surroundings: This is the outskirts of the city, only accessible by an unpaved road. Upstream is a rather undisturbed natural environment. Downstream is a bridge on the main road and nearby is the Necaxa Reservoir.

Threats: Unknown. Upstream, the area is more forested, mountainous (note the altitude above), partly used for recreational purposes (mainly around the waterfalls and aquatic attractions). There may be pollution, including from local settlements, the Huachinango metropolitan area has almost 120,000 inhabitants. There is a risk of spreading non-native X. variatus if someone were to release them here – this species is now present in parts of Mexico where it is not native and naturally ocurrs downstream Río Necaxa below high cataracts.

Xiphophorus species: Xiphophorus evelynae

Other fish: Pseudoxiphophorus jonesii

Other animals: Cambarellus montezumae (exact determination is not certain), Belostoma sp. (giant water bug) and lot of other insects

Plants: Potamogeton spp., Elodea densa, Hydrocotyle sp., Eichhornia crassipes + littoral vegetation and submerged grass

Recorded water parameters:

pH 7,78, 103 μS/cm, 15,7 °C / air temperature at 16:20 was 22,1 °C (27.1.2010, Rejlková & Slaboch & Murko & Pešek)
pH 8,6, 140 μS/cm, 16,2 °C / air temperature at 15:30 was 22,9 °C (21.3.2012, Rejlková & Slaboch & Murko & Balnar)

Visits to the biotope: