Endangered Species: The Corfu Toothcarp

The Corfu Toothcarp is one of the endangered species that we have on display in ZSL London Zoo Aquarium, and is now the focus of a new Conservation plan.

These tiny fish can be found in North West Greece and Albania. The Corfu Toothcarp lives in small freshwater lagoons, swamps and streams that have little or no current.

Toothcarps have lived in Corfu since before the Ice Age; they were able to survive because the part of Greece where they are from was not covered in glaciers. But now, because of humans, they are seriously threatened by over farming and tourism. Their habitats are drying out, and they are struggling to survive.

Corfu Toothcarps are really difficult to keep in Aquariums, and because of this they are not generally used in the popular home aquarium trade. ZSL are keeping a colony of Corfu Toothcarp so that their behaviour can be monitored and so that we can learn more about their biology, in order to be able to help them better.

The Zoological Society of London worked with a Greek team in 2005 to carry out a full survey on this species, and the results were so worrying that a plan was devised immediately. Good habitats have been recorded, and notes have been taken about habitats which are under threat, and it is hoped that with enough knowledge and planning, it may be possible to re-introduce these wonderful survivors back into the wild.