The bocachico scientific name is Prochilodus magdalenae;
The bocachico is a migratory fish of continental water. Is a very common fish in the Magdalena and Sinu rivers, it is a medium size fish in which his maximum longitude is of 60 cm, it has teeth on his lips and not in the jaw. The general color of the Bocachico is silver with their fins reddish or yellowish. He eats vegetal material and organic material in decomposion. His popular name (Bocachico) comes because he has a small mouth with very little teeth. The Bocachico is a fish which is really important for the economy of Colombia because hundredths of thousandths of fishers have depend for many years, specially the last few ones, of it for their own economy.
The taxonomy of the Bocachico is:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteryqii
order: characiformers
family: Prochilodontidae
genus: Prochilodus
specie: P. magdalenae
Role of the species
Economy" The bocachico has traditionally been the fish of greater economic importance of Colombia. Hundredths of Thousandths of fishermen have relied on mainly it for their live hood. It is estimated that in the best moments, the bocahico came to constitute 60% of the fishing in the basis of the magdalena river (Mojica & Alvarez 2002) " (OPEPA)
Environment
Reasons of the extinction:
- The inbreeding: can't interbreed. They can´t interbreed, becuase people are hunting them before the Bocachico has the lenght or size to interbreed which is 25cm approximately.
- Sediment: because of deforestation.
- Introduction of new exotic species. This exotic species are stronger or bigger than the Bocachico and are eating them.
- Over fishing: fishing more than the allowed
- The use of wrong ways of hunting: use of wrong materials. This materials are, most of them, chemiclas that are polluting the water
- The contamination of the water.
- Stream clugged: people clugg the streams so the fishes are affected.
Strategies developed to protect the species:
The strategies developed to protect the specie in which the people, society, entities, and government are involved are the following:
- making new strategies of conservation, investigation, in which it includes the control, the use and the management of the specie, in this case the Bocachico, for continue having the specie, and make it survive
- this works and strategies comes from the participation of the different regions and local communities
- the "URRA" for example is helping by the stimuli of the reproduction of this specie, taking into account the increase and decrease of the sinu river specially.
- not fishing bocachico in a small size
Controversial Question:
Do you think that fishing the bocachico should be illegal?Sources:
http://www.opepa.org/index.
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http://elbochachico.blogspot.com/ El Bocachico. (n.d.). El Bocachico. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://elbochachico.blogspot.com/
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