DEVILS HOLE PUPFISH Cyprinodon diabolis (Wales, 1932) 



Order: ATHERINIFORMES Family: CYPRINODONTIDAE 



Distinguishing characteristics : Small size (generally less than 25 mm. S.L.), no pelvic 

 fins, caudal fin convex, no vertical bars in females. 



Present distribution : Restricted to a single, spring-fed pool in Ash Meadows, 

 Nye County, Nevada, east of Death Valley California. 



Former distribution : Likely a Pliocene relict . 



Status : Jeopardized. 



Estimated numbers : 300 to 800; at times as few as 125 breeding adults . 



Fecundity : Good if undisturbed . 



Reasons for decline : Decline of water level in Devils Hole . This is possibly due to 

 removal of water from the aquifer for irrigation. 



Protective measures already taken : 40 acres set aside in 1952 as a detached section of 

 Death Valley National Monument. In 1967, a new fence was added. In 1970, an artificial 

 spawning platform was added. Electric lights were installed over the platform. 



Measures proposed : Continued surveillance by National Park Service personnel. 

 Attempt to establish this pupfish in other suitable habitats. 



Numb er in captivity : Alan McCrady, Sacramento, California, has a few which he is 

 rearing in aquaria . 



Culture potential in captivity : Good, but temperature must be kept around 90 degrees F. 

 and heavy algae growths must be maintained . 



Remarks: Any species as restricted in distribution and number as is this one must be 

 considered to be threatened. Since its legal protection, its existence has at times been 

 more precarious than heretofore. Data submitted by Dr. Robert R. Miller, University 

 of Michigan, and by Dr. John P. Harville, San Jose State College. 



References : 



Cry California. 1970. Special report on the pupfish of the Death Valley region. 



Jour, of California Tomorrow, Vol. 5, No. 2, spring 1970, San Francisco, 26 p. 

 Miller , R . R . 1948 . The cyprinodont fishes of the Death Valley system of eastern 



California and southwestern Nevada. Misc. Publ. Mus . Zool . Univ. Mich., 



68, 155 p. 



. 1961 . Speciation rates in some freshwater fishes of western North 



America. In: Vertebrate Speciation , W . Frank Blair , Ed . Univ . Texas Press , 



1961, p. 537-560. 

 U.S. Department of the Interior. 1970. A task force report on let's save the desert 



pupfish . Washington , D . C . , 8 p . 



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