Genus · Livebearers

Allodontichthys

Allodontichthys is a genus with 4 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Livebearers section, recorded from Mexico. Adult sizes run from 2 in to 3 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
4
Adult sizes
2–3 in
IUCN assessed
4 of 4 · 4 threatened
Recorded from
Mexico

About the genus

Allodontichthys is a genus of livebearing splitfins in family Goodeidae, endemic to river systems of west-central Mexico. As with other goodeids, reproduction is internally fertilized and viviparous, with embryos nourished through a placenta-like trophotaenial structure rather than a yolk sac, and species are typically restricted to specific spring-fed rivers or tributary systems, which leaves them vulnerable to localized habitat disturbance.

The atlas covers all four described species - the whitepatched splitfin (Allodontichthys hubbsi), finescale splitfin (A. polylepis), Tuxpan splitfin (A. tamazulae), and bandfin splitfin (A. zonistius) - and every one carries a threatened IUCN status: one Critically Endangered, one Endangered, and two Vulnerable, with all four flagged for CARES conservation priority. That makes Allodontichthys one of the most consistently at-risk genera in the atlas's livebearer section. It has some presence in the specialist goodeid-keeping hobby, where dedicated aquarists maintain captive populations partly as a hedge against further decline in the wild, but it is not a mainstream aquarium fish.

IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered · 1 Endangered · 1 Vulnerable · 2CARES 4 on the priority list

The 4 species

Every Allodontichthys recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Miller & Uyeno, 1980

Whitepatched splitfin, Whitepatch splitfin, Mexclapique de Tuxpan

2.5 in TL · EN CARES

Rauchenberger, 1988

Finescale splitfin, Mexcalpique escamitas

2 in SL · CR CARES

Turner, 1946

Tuxpan splitfin, Peppered splitfin, Mexcalpique de Tamazula

3 in SL · VU CARES

(Hubbs, 1932)

Bandfin splitfin, Banded splitfin, Mexclapique de Armería

2.5 in SL · VU CARES

Explore further

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Allodontichthys. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/allodontichthys/

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