Owens pupfish
Encyclopedia
The Owens pupfish is a rare species of fish
in the family Cyprinodontidae, the pupfish. It is endemic to California
in the United States, where it is limited to the Owens Valley
. It is a federally listed endangered species
of the United States. This pupfish is up to 5 centimetres (2 in) long, the largest males sometimes longer. The male is blue-gray, turning bright blue during spawning. The female is greenish brown with a silvery or whitish belly.
The pupfish tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Its native habitat includes desert marsh
es with water temperatures up to 33°C in the summer and layers of ice during the winter. The water in some areas has four times the salt content of the ocean, as well as low oxygen.
This fish was once common in the Owens Valley of California, occurring in most water bodies between Fish Slough
and Lone Pine
, which are 70 miles apart. It occurred in the Owens River
and associated slough
s and marshes. At that time the Paiute people scooped them out of the water and dried them for the winter.
The diversion of water from the Owens River to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
during the California Water Wars
eliminated most of the water bodies that were the pupfish's habitat. Predation by introduced species
of fish may have decimated remaining populations. By 1942 this pupfish was believed to be extinct
. It was rediscovered in 1964, when one population of about 200 individuals was found. When they were transferred to a safer location, the entire global population of this pupfish was contained in two buckets. The California Department of Fish and Game
established six populations in carefully managed refugia using these fish. Four of these populations remain today.
Threats to the four populations include the encroachment of cattails into the waterways. The plant clogs the habitat and collects detritus, which eliminates the pupfish's breeding substrates. The CDFG tends the four populations, clearing out the cattails. Introduced species of aquatic organisms also pose a threat. They include predatory fish such as largemouth bass
(Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass
(Micropterus dolomieu), brown trout
(Salmo trutta), and bluegill
(Lepomis macrochirus), as well as crayfish
(Pacifastacus leniusculus) and bullfrog
s (Rana catesbeiana). The severe reduction of the species into a single small population may have created a genetic bottleneck; genetic analysis
is underway.
Other local Cyprinodon include Death Valley pupfish
(Cyprinodon salinus salinus), Shoshone pupfish
(Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone), the extinct Tecopa pupfish
(Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae), Devil's Hole pupfish
(Cyprinodon diabolis), and the desert pupfish
(Cyprinodon macularius).
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in the family Cyprinodontidae, the pupfish. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the United States, where it is limited to the Owens Valley
Owens Valley
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
. It is a federally listed endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of the United States. This pupfish is up to 5 centimetres (2 in) long, the largest males sometimes longer. The male is blue-gray, turning bright blue during spawning. The female is greenish brown with a silvery or whitish belly.
The pupfish tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Its native habitat includes desert marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es with water temperatures up to 33°C in the summer and layers of ice during the winter. The water in some areas has four times the salt content of the ocean, as well as low oxygen.
This fish was once common in the Owens Valley of California, occurring in most water bodies between Fish Slough
Fish Slough Area of Critical Environmental Concern
The Fish Slough Area of Critical Environmental Concern is a Slough located near Bishop, California on the western side of the Chalfant Valley . Its were designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern in 1982...
and Lone Pine
Lone Pine, California
Lone Pine is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. Lone Pine is located south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3727 feet . The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens Valley, near the...
, which are 70 miles apart. It occurred in the Owens River
Owens River
The Owens River is a river in southeastern California in the United States, approximately long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at Owens Lake, but...
and associated slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
s and marshes. At that time the Paiute people scooped them out of the water and dried them for the winter.
The diversion of water from the Owens River to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
The Los Angeles metropolitan area, also known as Metropolitan Los Angeles or the Southland, is the 13th largest metropolitan area in the world and the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States....
during the California Water Wars
California Water Wars
The California Water Wars were a series of conflicts between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists. As Los Angeles grew in the late 1800s, it started to outgrow its water supply. Fred Eaton, mayor of Los Angeles, realized that...
eliminated most of the water bodies that were the pupfish's habitat. Predation by introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
of fish may have decimated remaining populations. By 1942 this pupfish was believed to be extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
. It was rediscovered in 1964, when one population of about 200 individuals was found. When they were transferred to a safer location, the entire global population of this pupfish was contained in two buckets. The California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
established six populations in carefully managed refugia using these fish. Four of these populations remain today.
Threats to the four populations include the encroachment of cattails into the waterways. The plant clogs the habitat and collects detritus, which eliminates the pupfish's breeding substrates. The CDFG tends the four populations, clearing out the cattails. Introduced species of aquatic organisms also pose a threat. They include predatory fish such as largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
(Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass
Smallmouth bass
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
(Micropterus dolomieu), brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
(Salmo trutta), and bluegill
Bluegill
The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...
(Lepomis macrochirus), as well as crayfish
Signal crayfish
The signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is a North American species of crayfish. It was introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the Scandinavian Astacus astacus fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague, but the imports turned out to be a carrier of that disease...
(Pacifastacus leniusculus) and bullfrog
Bullfrog
The American bullfrog , often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found...
s (Rana catesbeiana). The severe reduction of the species into a single small population may have created a genetic bottleneck; genetic analysis
Genetic analysis
Genetic analysis can be used generally to describe methods both used in and resulting from the sciences of genetics and molecular biology, or to applications resulting from this research....
is underway.
Other local Cyprinodon include Death Valley pupfish
Death Valley pupfish
The Death Valley pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus salinus, is found in Death Valley National Park.-Description:The Death Valley pupfish is a species of fish that is the last known survivor of what is thought to have been a large ecosystem of fish species that lived in Lake Manly, which dried up at the...
(Cyprinodon salinus salinus), Shoshone pupfish
Shoshone pupfish
The Shoshone pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone, is characterized by large scales and a "slab-sided," narrow, slender body, with the arch of the ventral contour much less pronounced than the dorsal...
(Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone), the extinct Tecopa pupfish
Tecopa pupfish
The Tecopa pupfish is an extinct subspecies of the Amargosa pupfish . The small, heat-tolerant pupfish was endemic to the outflows of a pair of hot springs in the Mojave Desert of California...
(Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae), Devil's Hole pupfish
Devil's Hole pupfish
The Devil's Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis, is a species of fish native to Devil's Hole, a geothermal , aquifer-fed pool within a limestone cavern, in the Amargosa Pupfish Station of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex east of Death Valley National Park.-Physical description:The Devil's...
(Cyprinodon diabolis), and the desert pupfish
Cyprinodon macularius
Cyprinodon macularius is a rare species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae and is known by the common name desert pupfish. It is a federally listed endangered species in the United States....
(Cyprinodon macularius).
External links
- Gimenez Dixon, M. 1996. Cyprinodon radiosus. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 September 2011.
- Terrill, C. Pister's Pupfish myurbanwild.com