This species is native to the ancient system of water channels and lakes in the Mexican Central Valley. It requires deep-water lakes (both natural and artificial canals) with abundant aquatic vegetation, and is sensitive to changes in water quality. Structures such as plants are needed to lay eggs. It is a paedomorphic species, living permanently in water, and does not undergo complete metamorphosis. It is thought to reach maturity around 1.5 years and, in captivity, lives until about 10 years; the generation length is estimated to be around 5.5 years.

This species was originally known to occupy a series of lakes and wetlands throughout the Mexican Central Valley, including Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco (and presumably in the connecting lakes Texcoco and Zumpango), but it has disappeared from most of its historical range. It is now only known from three sites in the southern part of Mexico City in central Mexico, at c. 2,240 m asl: the canals at Xochimilco, Chalco lake, and Chapultepec Lake (records from Chapultepec Lake that were previously reported to have been uncertain have now been confirmed to belong to this species) (G. Parra-Olea pers. comm. 2014, Contreras et al. 2009, Recuero et al. 2010). Its current extent of occurrence (EOO) is estimated to be 467 km².

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species occurs in Ejidos de Xochimilco y San Gregorio Atlapulco and is protected under the category P (Peligro de extincion) by the Government of Mexico and is in the process of being amended to a higher risk category. It has a species action plan, and there are several captive colonies around the world, since the species is used in physiological and biomedical research, as well as in the pet trade. Although this species is currently in CITES Appendix II, it is currently under the process of "Periodic Review of species included in CITES Appendices". Conservation action is also focusing on raising the profile of Lake Xochimilco through conservation education and a nature tourism initiative, coupled with work on habitat restoration and bio-remediation.

Conservation Needed  
Given the two most important threats to the species are related to habitat transformation, including a drastic modification of riparian habitat due to urbanization, and a population explosion of introduced predatory fish (tilapia), a species recovery plan should involve habitat management and restoration before any other measure such as further reintroductions. Any reintroduction efforts should take care to avoid introducing potential diseases or genetic problems from captive colonies (Zambrano et al. 2007).

Research Needed
Further work is required to clarify questions around the species' taxonomy (G. Parra-Olea pers. comm. October 2019).