The Death Valley pupfish (''Cyprinodon salinus''), also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is a small species of fish in the family

Cyprinodontidae Pupfish are a group of small killifish belonging to ten genus, genera of the family Cyprinodontidae of ray-finned fish. Pupfish are especially noted for being found in extreme and isolated situations. They are primarily found in North America, S ...

found only in

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is a national park of the United States 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 sect ...

, California, United States. There are two recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: ''C. s. salinus'' and ''C. s. milleri''. The Death Valley pupfish is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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, inv ...

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 large

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

of fish species that lived in

Lake Manly Lake Manly was a pluvial lake in Death Valley, California. It forms occasionally in Badwater Basin after heavy rainfall, but at its maximum extent during the so-called "Blackwelder stand," ending approximately 120,000 years before present, the ...

, 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 g ...

leaving the present-day Death Valley. The Salt Creek subspecies is also found at River Springs and Soda Lake, in

Conservation

The Death Valley pupfish has been classified as

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

because of its extremely restricted distribution (if the two extant locations were treated as a single unit, it would be considered

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

). 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 material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

that feeds the habitat.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5247243 Cyprinodon Death Valley Endemic fauna of California Endemic fish of the United States 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

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References

Further reading

External links