The devil’s hole pupfish is possibly one of the rarest fish in the world with 65 individuals being counted as of 2013. The devil’s hole pupfish also lives in extreme circumstances for fish by living in caverns that reach 93 degrees in The Mojave Desert. The temperatures and oxygen levels are lethal for most fish species but the devil’s hole pupfish has been found to thrive in the conditions in the past. The devil’s hole pupfish have one of the smallest range of any vertebrate, living in an area that is smaller than most people’s office.
Unfortunately, the devil’s hole pupfish has been declining from 550 individuals being counted when the counts started to numbers as low as 35 individuals. Previous attempts to establish a captive population have failed until recently. When a captive population was being attempted to be made, there was a species of diving beetle that was previously found in the caves of the pupfish and wasn’t thought to be a big deal they were in the tank with the captive population. It was later found out that the diving beetle was eating the pupfish eggs and larva and causing the previous attempts to establish a refuge population to fail. A successful refuge population has now been established and there are now 50 individuals in the refuge population and in 2018, devil’s hole had a population of 187 devil’s hole pupfish.
Photo by Brett Seymour
https://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/dhp/dhp.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/endangered-devils-hole-pupfish-breeding-breakthrough?loggedin=true
empts to establish a captive population have failed until recently. When a captive population was being attempted to be made, there was a species of diving beetle that was previously found in the caves of the pupfish and wasn’t thought to be a big deal they were in the tank with the captive population. It was later found out that the d
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