42 Desert Pupfish in Hot Water

[L Roebuck]

Desert pupfish in hot water
Only 42 left: Creature whose plight led to the Endangered Species Act is on the brink -- researchers don't know why

Death Valley National Park -- The last place anyone would expect to find fish is Devil's Hole, a chasm in the middle of the Mojave Desert where a 100-degree day is mild and the only thing bigger than the rocky expanse of desert is the sky above it.

But nature is nothing if not amazing -- as good an explanation as any of how the Devil's Hole pupfish has survived in the bottomless geothermal pool that gave the fish its name. It is tiny, just an inch long, yet few species loom so large in the history of American environmentalism.

The Devil's Hole pupfish is one of the rarest animals in the world. The seemingly endless effort to save it laid the foundation for the Endangered Species Act and shaped Western water policy a generation ago with a landmark Supreme Court ruling.

But after 20,000 years in the desert, the fish teeters on the edge of extinction. No more than 42 remain in Devil's Hole.

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[Brian Roebuck]

They're probably in danger because of all the human "interaction" to try and save them!

Seriously - I recall they were doing fine before we discovered them!

[Azurerana]

Having read the article, I wonder how much danger they actually are in.

If 2 teens diving Devil's Hole vanished without a trace, and presuming the pupfish didn't eat them, I wonder if there are interstitial spaces, or even spaces big enough for teenagers, where more fish could be lurking.

The problem with counting pupfish is the same as counting cavefish--even divers cannot be sure they've looked everywhere. Has anyone done any studies of temperature variation over the years? What about the water quality (I'm assuming WQ has been done). Is it a good thing to feed them Pupfish Chow? Perhaps some low population triggers breeding.

And this kooky plan to remove 10% of the pupfish if the population goes up to 80 found? That makes *no* sense. Geez louise, maybe if they got up to 160, but less than 100?

Remember, whooping cranes were brought back with less than 42 individuals. ...

[Sharon Faulkner]

I've followed the plight of these poor fish for several years now. I think they are being loved to death in a manner of speaking. Handfuls of the fish have been removed before and placed in man made tanks, which hasn't proven to be an effective means of repopulating the species. It might be better if they were just left in their original habitat for a few years.