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 coloration, while females and juveniles are silvery or tan. A notable attribute of the desert pupfish is their ability to survive in environments of extreme salinity, pH, and temperature, and low oxygen content. The desert pupfish mates in a characteristic fashion, wherein compatible males and females will come in contact and collectively jerk in an s-shape. Each jerk typically produces a single egg that is fertilized by the male and deposited in his territory. Breeding behavior includes aggressive arena-breeding and more docile consort-pair breeding.
The desert pupfish is a federally listed endangered species in the United States. The desert pupfish was once a common fish, but it is now extirpated from most of its historical natural range. The decrease in population has been a trend since the early 1900s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. It has been, and continues to be, preyed upon and displaced by non-native fishes, such as tilapia. Currently, the desert pupfish occurs only in three drainage basins: the Salton Sea, California, the Colorado River Delta, Baja California, and in Sonora, Mexico.[5][6] Historically, the desert pupfish occurred in the drainage basins of the Gila, Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Salt, and lower Colorado River. The range stretched from Arizona to the Gulf of California and Sonora.[5]
^NatureServe (2019). "Cyprinodon macularius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T62209A82961225. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T62209A82961225.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^"Desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
^51 FR 10842
^Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Cyprinodon macularis" in FishBase. August 2019 version.
^ ab"List of Arizona Native Fishes" (PDF). Arizona Game and Fish Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-14.
^Minckley, WL (1973). Fishes of Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Game and Fish Department. pp. 186–192.
The desertpupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) is a rare species of bony fish in the family Cyprinodontidae. It is a small fish, typically less than 7.62 cm...
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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...
Tecopa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae) is an extinct subspecies of the Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis). The small, heat-tolerant pupfish was...
River. While most desert wildlife depend on aquatic habitats as water sources, a number of species, such as the arroyo toad, desertpupfish, Yuma rail, and...
a silvery or whitish belly. The pupfish tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Its native habitat includes desert marshes with water temperatures...
completely limited to the Mojave desert. There are also aquatic species that are found nowhere else, such as the Devils Hole pupfish, limited to one hot spring...
trailhead. Naturally occurring artesian ponds provide habitat for the Desertpupfish, a small, endangered species of freshwater fish - roughly the size of...
under the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf at a latitude of 79°S, while desertpupfish live in desert springs, streams, and marshes, sometimes highly saline, with...
isolated locations in the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada. Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadensis, the Saratoga Springs pupfish, is the nominate subspecies...
River course runs through the desert, with the rare Shoshone pupfish in nearby Amargosa Pupfish Station of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex...
salmon Barramundi Green sawfish Spanish toothcarp Atlantic threadfin Desertpupfish Mayan cichlid Crevalle jacks The level of salinity in intertidal zones...
Extreme examples of eurytherms include Tardigrades (Tardigrada), the desertpupfish (Cyprinodon macularis), and green crabs (Carcinus maenas), however,...
endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). The 40 acres (16 ha) unit is part of the Ash Meadows complex, an area of desert uplands and spring-fed...
a decline in populations of the federally protected and endangered desertpupfish (Cyprinodon macularius). It is also invasive to Iraq, where it thrives...
a subspecies of the desertpupfish (C. macularius), but it has since been reclassified as a distinct species. The Sonoyta pupfish has a thick, chubby...
cold seas, flowing and still freshwater, and even, in the case of the desertpupfish, isolated and sometimes hot and saline bodies of water in deserts. Teleost...
reproduction of many whiptail lizard species, and also discovered that the desertpupfish can tolerate temperatures up to 44 °C (112 °F) and extremely low oxygen...
olivaris Y Amargosa Pupfish Cyprinodon nevadensis Y DesertPupfish Cyprinodon macularius Y Salt Creek Pupfish Cyprinodon salinus Y Owens Pupfish Cyprinodon radiosus...
the summer. The desertpupfish is the only native fish species in the sea and is a federally listed endangered species. The desertpupfish, notable for its...
Three other fish were considered: the Colorado River squawfish, the desertpupfish, and the bonytail chub. The ring-tailed cat was chosen by students around...
have been described. Minnows like Agosia and Siphateles as well as the desertpupfish inhabit streams and probably lived in Lake Manly as well. The Lake Manly...
California's Salton Sea may also be responsible for the decline of the desertpupfish, Cyprinodon macularius. As with most species of tilapia, Mozambique...
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