0:35AM BST 23 Jul 2009
Bristol zoo has successfully bred Potosi pupfish, a species of fish extinct in the wild.
Bristol Zoo and ZSL London Zoo are the only two institutions in the UK working together to safeguard the species, which are classed as extinct in the wild, through a conservation breeding programme.
A handful of private breeders in Spain, Mexico and America are also keeping them.
It is hoped numbers will be boosted in captivity through co-ordinated breeding. The programme is managed through the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Jonny Rudd, assistant curator of the aquarium at Bristol Zoo, said: "The Potosi pupfish belongs to the killifish family, which is made up of over 1,200 different species of small, egg-laying ray-finned fish