The fartet returns to the Llobregat delta

In the coastal lagoons of the Llobregat Delta, some conservation initiatives are being carried out. One of these initiatives is the reintroduction project of a fish called “fartet”. Fartets have a different coloration depending on sex. Males have a tail, and a part of the body striped, while females have a mottled body. The name fartet probably comes from the fact that the females about to make the laying have a swollen belly, and it seems that they are fed up (“fartes”, in Catalan), with so much eating.
Fartet was deemed extinct in the Llobregat Delta in the 1960s, but several aquarium lovers had captured specimens and bred them in captivity for decades. Thanks to them, the indigenous population has been recovered and reintroduced into different lagoons, both natural and artificial. The fish is capable of living in fresh or brackish water, tolerates a wide pH range and high levels of nitrates in the water, but is instead sensitive to competition with exotic species such as the mosquito fish or the American crayfish. The strategy is, therefore, to promote the presence of the fartet in different nuclei and not gamble everything on a single card.