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The Death Valley pupfish (''Cyprinodon salinus''), also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is a small species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae found only in
The Death Valley pupfish is a small, silvery colored fish with 6–9 vertical dark bands on its sides. It has an average length of , with a recorded maximum of .
The males, often appearing in larger sizes compared to females, turn bright blue during mating season, April through October. The females, along with premature pupfish, tend to have tanned backs with iridescent, silvery sides. Both males and females have plump bodies with rounded fins, a squashed head and an upturned mouth. The pupfish can withstand harsh conditions that would kill other fish: water that is 4 times more saline than the ocean, hot water up to , and cold water down to .
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...
, California, United States. There are two recognized subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
: ''C. s. salinus'' and ''C. s. milleri''. The Death Valley pupfish is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to two small, isolated locations and currently classified as endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
.
Description
The Death Valley pupfish is a small, silvery colored fish with 6–9 vertical dark bands on its sides. It has an average length of , with a recorded maximum of .
The males, often appearing in larger sizes compared to females, turn bright blue during mating season, April through October. The females, along with premature pupfish, tend to have tanned backs with iridescent, silvery sides. Both males and females have plump bodies with rounded fins, a squashed head and an upturned mouth. The pupfish can withstand harsh conditions that would kill other fish: water that is 4 times more saline than the ocean, hot water up to , and cold water down to .
Distribution and habitat
This species is known from only two locations in Death Valley: Salt Creek (subspecies ''salinus'') at about below sea level, and Cottonball Marsh (subspecies ''milleri''), at about below sea level. They are thought to be the remainders of a largeecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
of fish species that lived in Lake Manly
Lake Manly was a pluvial lake in Death Valley, California, covering much of Death Valley with a surface area of during the so-called "Blackwelder stand". Water levels varied through its history, and the chronology is further complicated by act ...
, which dried up at the end of the last ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
leaving the present-day Death Valley.
The Salt Creek subspecies is also found at River Springs and Soda Lake, in Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...
.
Conservation
The Death Valley pupfish has been classified asendangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
because of its extremely restricted distribution (if the two extant locations were treated as a single unit, it would be considered critically endangered). Numbers of individuals at the locations are highly seasonally variable, and fluctuate with water level and flow volume. While the entire range of the species is located in a protected area, it may be under threat from accidental introduction of non-native species, local catastrophic events, and excessive pumping of the aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
that feeds the habitat.
See also
* Tecopa Pupfish, ''Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae'' (extinct) * Saratoga pupfish, ''Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadensis'', fromSaratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
at the south end of Death Valley
*Amargosa pupfish
''Cyprinodon nevadensis'' is a species of pupfish in the genus ''Cyprinodon''. The species is also known as the Amargosa pupfish, but that name may also refer to one subspecies, ''Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosae''. All six subspecies are or wer ...
, ''Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosa'', from the Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, int ...
northwest of Saratoga Springs
*Devils Hole pupfish
The Devils Hole pupfish (''Cyprinodon diabolis'') is a critically endangered species of the family Cyprinodontidae (pupfishes) found only in Devils Hole, a water-filled cavern in the US state of Nevada. It was first described as a species in ...
, ''Cyprinodon diabolis'', critically endangered and found in Devils Hole
Devils Hole is a geologic formation located in a detached unit of Death Valley National Park and surrounded by the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, in Nye County, Nevada, in the Southwestern United States.
Devils Hole is habitat for the onl ...
, in western Nevada
*Shoshone Pupfish
The Shoshone pupfish (''Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone'') is a subspecies of '' Cyprinodon nevadensis'' from California in the United States. It is characterized by large scales and a "slab-sided," narrow, slender body, with the arch of the ven ...
, ''Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone''
*Desert pupfish
The desert pupfish (''Cyprinodon macularius'') is a rare species of bony fish in the family Cyprinodontidae. It is a small fish, typically less than 7.62 cm (3 in) in length. Males are generally larger than females, and have bright-blue ...
''Cyprinodon macularius''
* Owens pupfish ''Cyprinodon radiosus''
References
Further reading
* * *External links
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5247243 Cyprinodon Death Valley Endemic fauna of California Fauna of the Mojave Desert Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Natural history of Inyo County, California Taxa named by Robert Rush Miller Fish described in 1943 Endangered fish Endangered fauna of California