Donn E. Rosen 1960.

Middle American poeciliid fishes of the genus Xiphophorus.
Bull. Fla. St. Mus. Biol. Sci. 5 (4): 57 - 242.

Males: 40 mm, females 50 mm.

A member of the group comprising evelynae, maculatus, milleri, variatus & xiphidium.

• X.variatus evelynae Rosen 1960

Populations

• Rio Necaxa ( Puebla State, Mexico )

The confluense of the Rio's Xanthophyll & Necaxa at Tepexic, Mexico. Collected by M. & E. Gordon on the 6th April 1939. The male holotype measured 33 mm SL & the female allotype measured 36·3 mm SL.

Restricted to a series of cataracts near the village of Necaxa (also known as La Mesa). This is an area approx. 1220 metres above sea level.
Thought to inhabit only the Rio Tecolutla drainage in Puebla.
It is interesting to quote from Derek & Pat Lambert's work 'Platies & Swordtails'..

'At one time the waters of the Rio Necaxa cascaded down into a gorge some 336 metres below the plateau, but this area has since been damned & a reservoir created which feeds a hydro electric plant. In 1939 this sp. was collected in the pools & river below the falls & it was here that the largest & most strongly marked fish were found. In some males the dorsal fin was so extended that it reached back to the caudal peduncle. However, a severe hurricaine in 1940 flooded this area, creating currents which few fish would have been able to survive, &, when this area was collected again in 1957, no X.evelynae could be found, despite other sp. of livebearers having reestablished themselves'.

Originally collected by Mrs. Evelyn Gordon in 1939. It was not until 1960 that Rosen described the fish as a sub sp.
First UK import is recorded in April 1979 by Howard Preston, who met Dr. A. C. Radda in Puebla, Mexico. Radda had been collecting & gave him some fish. No data is available as to the collection site.

Regarded as an easy fish to breed. Parents will tolerate young in the tank but older females have been known to be cannibalistic towards their young.
Gestation period has been reported at 4 weeks where a healthy female can drop 50 young.
Fry are known to hide at the base level of the tank for the first few days.