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

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 Eure ...

, California, United States. There are two recognized subspecies: ''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 els ...

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 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) 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 syst ...

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 gre ...

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 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 characteri ...

that feeds the habitat.

References

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

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References

Further reading

External links