Saratoga Springs pupfish
Encyclopedia
The Saratoga Springs pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadensis) is a subspecies of the Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis
) of the family Cyprinodontidae
. The native population is endemic to Saratoga Springs
, a small wetland in Death Valley National Park
in the United States.
is a member of the genus Cyprinodon
. Most divergence
of Cyprinodon species likely took place during the early-to-mid Pleistocene
, a time when pluvial lake
s intermittently filled the now-desert region, though some may have occurred during the last 10,000 years. The evaporation of the lakes resulted in the geographic isolation of small Cyprinodon populations and the speciation
of C. nevadensis.
Ichthyologists Rosa Smith Eigenmann
and Carl H. Eigenmann
first identified Cyprinodon nevadensis in 1889. Later authors considered it the same species as Cyprinodon macularius
. In the 1940s, Robert Rush Miller
again described C. nevadensis as a distinct species, and identified six subspecies, including C. n. nevadensis.
Other subspecies include the Amargosa River pupfish (C. n. amargosae), the Ash Meadows pupfish (C. n. mionectes), the Warm Springs pupfish (C. n. pectoralis), the Shoshone pupfish
(C. n. shoshone), and the extinct Tecopa pupfish
(C. n. calidae).
The diet of C. n. nevadensis is typical of pupfishes. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are the primary food source, for which their lengthy guts are particularly well adapted. Ostracod
s, copepod
s, and the larvae of chironomids
provide seasonal nutrition.
Mating behavior differs from stream-dwelling pupfishes but is similar to other spring-dwellers. Males defend territories
in which females lay eggs throughout the year. While the fish are capable of surviving a wide range of temperatures, reproduction is limited to a narrower range (75–86 °F, 24–30 °C).
. A 30 foot (10 m) diameter, 3–6 foot (1–2 m) deep spring pool overflows into several ponds totaling about 4–6 acres (2–3 ha). The temperature at the spring is a near constant 82–84 degrees Fahrenheit (28–29 °C), while the ponds fluctuate seasonally between 50 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit (10–49 °C). Fish at all life stages are found in the ponds, but juvenile fish are not known to occur in the spring itself.
A population was introduced at Lake Tuendae, an artificial pond in Zzyzx, California
, but reports conflict as to its continued survival there.
based on its limited distribution and the possibility that distant groundwater pumping may deplete the aquifer
that supplies Saratoga Springs. The aquifer may extend to as far away as western Utah
. Groundwater depletion in Las Vegas, Nevada
, 75 miles (120 km) miles to the northeast, is of particular concern.
In order to protect the pupfish and several other sensitive species, the National Park Service
prohibits visitors from entering the wetland at Saratoga Springs.
Cyprinodon nevadensis
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...
) of the family Cyprinodontidae
Pupfish
Pupfish are a group of small killifish belonging to ten genera of the family Cyprinodontidae of ray-finned fish. All pupfish are especially noted for being found in extreme and isolated situations, in various parts of North America, South America, and the Caribbean region...
. The native population is endemic to Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs (Death Valley)
Saratoga Springs is a desert oasis located in southern Death Valley National Park in California. The wetland lies at the southern tip of the Ibex Hills, on the floor of Death Valley and just northeast of the Amargosa River. Several springs overflow into pools totaling 6.6 acres in area, making the...
, a small wetland in Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
in the United States.
Taxonomy
The pupfishPupfish
Pupfish are a group of small killifish belonging to ten genera of the family Cyprinodontidae of ray-finned fish. All pupfish are especially noted for being found in extreme and isolated situations, in various parts of North America, South America, and the Caribbean region...
is a member of the genus Cyprinodon
Cyprinodon
Cyprinodon is a genus of small killifish belonging to the family Cyprinodontidae of ray-finned fish.-Species:* Whitefin pupfish, Cyprinodon albivelis Minckley & Miller, 2002.* Potosi pupfish, Cyprinodon alvarezi Miller, 1976....
. Most divergence
Divergent evolution
Divergent evolution is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species, usually a result of diffusion of the same species to different and isolated environments which blocks the gene flow among the distinct populations allowing differentiated fixation...
of Cyprinodon species likely took place during the early-to-mid Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, a time when pluvial lake
Pluvial lake
A pluvial lake is a landlocked basin which fills with rainwater during times of glaciation, when precipitation is higher. Pluvial lakes that have since evaporated and dried out may also be referred to as paleolakes.-Geology:...
s intermittently filled the now-desert region, though some may have occurred during the last 10,000 years. The evaporation of the lakes resulted in the geographic isolation of small Cyprinodon populations and the speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
of C. nevadensis.
Ichthyologists Rosa Smith Eigenmann
Rosa Smith Eigenmann
Rosa Smith Eigenmann was the first notable female ichthyologist; first publishing in her own right, she later collaborated with her husband Carl H. Eigenmann, and some 150 species of fish are today credited "Eigenmann & Eigenmann" as a result.She was born in Monmouth, Illinois, the last of nine...
and Carl H. Eigenmann
Carl H. Eigenmann
Carl H. Eigenmann was an ichthyologist who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, described many of the fishes of North America and South America for the first time....
first identified Cyprinodon nevadensis in 1889. Later authors considered it the same species as Cyprinodon macularius
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....
. In the 1940s, Robert Rush Miller
Robert Rush Miller
Robert Rush Miller "was an important figure in American ichthyology and conservation from 1940 to the 1990s."...
again described C. nevadensis as a distinct species, and identified six subspecies, including C. n. nevadensis.
Other subspecies include the Amargosa River pupfish (C. n. amargosae), the Ash Meadows pupfish (C. n. mionectes), the Warm Springs pupfish (C. n. pectoralis), the 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...
(C. n. shoshone), and 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...
(C. n. calidae).
Description
Male Saratoga Springs pupfish are bright blue in color, while females are a drab olive-brown. The fish have a standard length of 4 cm (1.6 inches), and the total length is rarely greater than 5 cm (2 inches).The diet of C. n. nevadensis is typical of pupfishes. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are the primary food source, for which their lengthy guts are particularly well adapted. Ostracod
Ostracod
Ostracoda is a class of the Crustacea, sometimes known as the seed shrimp because of their appearance. Some 65,000 species have been identified, grouped into several orders....
s, copepod
Copepod
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
s, and the larvae of chironomids
Chironomidae
Chironomidae are a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae...
provide seasonal nutrition.
Mating behavior differs from stream-dwelling pupfishes but is similar to other spring-dwellers. Males defend territories
Territory (animal)
In ethology the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics...
in which females lay eggs throughout the year. While the fish are capable of surviving a wide range of temperatures, reproduction is limited to a narrower range (75–86 °F, 24–30 °C).
Distribution and habitat
The fish is only known to occur naturally at Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Springs (Death Valley)
Saratoga Springs is a desert oasis located in southern Death Valley National Park in California. The wetland lies at the southern tip of the Ibex Hills, on the floor of Death Valley and just northeast of the Amargosa River. Several springs overflow into pools totaling 6.6 acres in area, making the...
. A 30 foot (10 m) diameter, 3–6 foot (1–2 m) deep spring pool overflows into several ponds totaling about 4–6 acres (2–3 ha). The temperature at the spring is a near constant 82–84 degrees Fahrenheit (28–29 °C), while the ponds fluctuate seasonally between 50 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit (10–49 °C). Fish at all life stages are found in the ponds, but juvenile fish are not known to occur in the spring itself.
A population was introduced at Lake Tuendae, an artificial pond in Zzyzx, California
Zzyzx, California
Zzyzx, California , formerly Camp Soda and Soda Springs, is a settlement in San Bernardino County, California. It is the former site of the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa and now the site of the Desert Studies Center...
, but reports conflict as to its continued survival there.
Conservation
The Saratoga Springs pupfish carries no official conservation status. The state of California has identified it as possibly qualifying as threatenedThreatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
based on its limited distribution and the possibility that distant groundwater pumping may deplete the aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
that supplies Saratoga Springs. The aquifer may extend to as far away as western Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Groundwater depletion in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, 75 miles (120 km) miles to the northeast, is of particular concern.
In order to protect the pupfish and several other sensitive species, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
prohibits visitors from entering the wetland at Saratoga Springs.
External links
- Death Valley geology field trip: Saratoga and Valley Springs (Includes photo)