The Owens pupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus) 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.[2][3] This pupfish is up to 5 centimetres (2.0 inches) 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.[4]
The pupfish tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Its native habitat includes desert marshes with water temperatures up to 33 °C in the summer and layers of ice during the winter.[4] The water in some areas has four times the salt content of the ocean, as well as low oxygen.[5]
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 sloughs and marshes. At that time the Paiute people scooped them out of the water and dried them for the winter.[6]
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.[6] Predation by introduced species of fish may have decimated remaining populations.[5] By 1942 this pupfish was believed to be extinct. It was rediscovered in 1964, when one population of about 200 individuals was found.[6] When they were transferred to a safer location, the entire global population of this pupfish was contained in two buckets.[4][7][8] The California Department of Fish and Game established six populations in carefully managed refuge using these fish.[6] While not all of the original six populations still exist today, the CDFW is still protecting and maintaining the population. In 2021, another population of Owens pupfish was established at
the River Spring Lakes Ecological Reserve in Mono County, California. This brought the total number of populations back up to 6. To establish this new population, pupfish were sourced from the five other extant populations and
translocated to the approximately 650-acre (264-hectare) reserve.[9]
Threats to the six 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 bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). The severe reduction of the species into a single small population may have created a genetic bottleneck; genetic analysis is underway.[6]
Other local Cyprinodon include Death Valley pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus salinus), Shoshone pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone), the extinct Tecopa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae), Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), and the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius).[6]
^NatureServe (2013). "Cyprinodon radiosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T6164A15363754. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T6164A15363754.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
^ ab"Owens pupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ ab32 FR 4001
^ abcPister, E. P. (2001). Threatened fishes of the world: Cyprinodon radiosus Miller, 1948 (Cyprinodontidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 61: 370. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
^ abOwens Pupfish Cyprinodon radiosus. Archived 2009-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Bureau of Land Management Species Profile. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
^Pister, E. P. Species in a bucket. Natural History Magazine (January 1993). pg 14. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
^Terrill, C. "Islands". In: Albert, S. W. What Wildness is This: Women Write About the Southwest. University of Texas Press. (2007). pg 129. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
The Owenspupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus) is a rare species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae, the pupfish. It is endemic to California in the United...
The Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) is a critically endangered species of the family Cyprinodontidae (pupfishes) found only in Devils Hole,...
Tecopa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae) is an extinct subspecies of the Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis). The small, heat-tolerant pupfish was...
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...
olivaris Y Amargosa Pupfish Cyprinodon nevadensis Y Desert Pupfish Cyprinodon macularius Y Salt Creek Pupfish Cyprinodon salinus Y OwensPupfish Cyprinodon radiosus...
speckled dace, and Owenspupfish have a similar distribution to the Owens tui chub. Analysis of microsatellite DNA shows that Owens tui chub in tributaries...
of pupfish, the Owenspupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus), Devil's Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), Cyprinodon nevadensis, and the Death Valley pupfish (Cyprinodon...
(Pecos pupfish) Cyprinodon pisteri R. R. Miller & W. L. Minckley, 2002 (Palomas pupfish) Cyprinodon radiosus R. R. Miller, 1948 (Owenspupfish) Cyprinodon...
1948 (Owenspupfish) Cyprinodon salinus R. R. Miller, 1943 Cyprinodon salinus salinus R. R. Miller, 1943 (Death Valley pupfish, Salt Creek pupfish) Cyprinodon...
that provides habitat for the alkali mariposa lily and the endangered Owenspupfish. Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes 1974 34°57′56.13″N 120°39′1.24″W / 34.9655917°N...
pioneer of desert fish conservation, and is credited with saving the Owenspupfish (Cyprinodon radiosis) by transferring the entire remaining population...
numbered 7,500,: 227 with about 1,500 to 2,000 Owens Valley Paiutes.: 228 In the 1990s an estimated 2,500 Owens Valley Paiutes lived on reservations. Meanwhile...
River and Owens River. The lake and its substantial catchment favoured the spread of a number of aquatic species, including some lizards, pupfish and springsnails...
depression in the center of the valley, supports Death Valley Pupfish. These isolated pupfish populations are remnants of the wetter Pleistocene climate...
to 60 in (8 to 152 cm), now observable at the basin floor. Death Valley pupfish List of elevation extremes by country List of elevation extremes by region...
trailhead. Naturally occurring artesian ponds provide habitat for the Desert pupfish, a small, endangered species of freshwater fish - roughly the size of a...
water for all with a description of the clear cool waters of Owens river and Lake Owens. The route would take them north and west of the then unknown...
bush, Joshua tree, bighorn sheep, coyote, and the endangered Death Valley pupfish, a survivor from much wetter times. UNESCO included Death Valley as the...
five species of salamander, three species of chub, and two species of pupfish. Eleven butterflies are also endangered and two that are threatened are...
Valley pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus), also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is a small species of fish found only in Death Valley National Park; the pupfish is...
is here that the last survivor of Lake Manly resides; the Death Valley pupfish. Saratoga Springs (35°40′54″N 116°25′25″W / 35.68167°N 116.42361°W /...
faults within the southern Walker Lane, such as the M7.4 1872 Owens Valley earthquake on the Owens Valley Fault and the M7.1 mainshock of the 2019 Ridgecrest...
the Roswell Invaders, Ruidoso Osos, Santa Fe Fuego and the White Sands Pupfish. The Duke City Gladiators of the Indoor Football League (IFL) plays their...
speaking some Cyprinodontidae (pupfish) are also known from sinkhole caves, famously including the Devils Hole pupfish, but these lack the adaptations...
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