Pseudorestias Arratia, Vila, Lam, Guerrero & Quezada-Romegialli, 2017.† Megupsilon Miller & Walters, 1972 (extinct 2014).3 History of the North American pupfish.Most pupfishes' diet consists, mainly, of algae, decaying vegetation, and any insects they can get. Many species are ovoviviparous often the sexes are dissimilar, the female being larger and less brilliantly coloured, with smaller fins the anal fin of the male may be modified into an intromittent organ by means of which internal fertilization takes place. Most pupfish are inhabitants of fresh and brackish waters. Pupfish from San Salvador island were able to diversify into multiple species with different eating habits due to interbreeding with pupfish from other islands, mainly Caribbean. Several forms occur in the fossil records of the Oligocene and Miocene beds of Europe. However, they are now generally assigned to the order Cyprinodontiformes. They were formerly considered near allies of the pikes and their relatives, as they share some features: a flat head with protractile mouth beset with cardiform, villiform, or compressed, bi- or tricuspid teeth, generally large scales, and the absence of a well-developed lateral line. In spite of their name, the cyprinodontids are not closely related to Cyprinidae, or carp family. Now extinct, this was the last male Catarina Pupfish (Megupsilon aporus) which died in 2014 The common name is said to derive from the mating habits of the males, whose activities vaguely resemble puppies at play. Since 1995 the Devil's Hole Pupfish has been in a nearly steady decline, where it was close to extinction at 35–68 fish in 2013.
In the U.S., the most well-known pupfish species may be the Devil's Hole Desert Pupfish, native to Devil's Hole on the Nevada side of Death Valley National Park. Several pupfish species are extinct and most extant species are listed. As of August 2006, 120 nominal species and 9 subspecies were known. They are primarily found in North America, South America, and the Caribbean region, but Aphanius species are from southwestern Asia, northern Africa, and southern Europe. Pupfish are especially noted for being found in extreme and isolated situations. Pupfish are a group of small killifish belonging to ten genera of the family Cyprinodontidae of ray-finned fish. JSTOR ( May 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Pupfish range in color from silvery-brown to silvery-blue.This article needs additional citations for verification. No one is sure exactly why they do this, but it may be to dislodge food from the mud.Īnatomy: The Pupfish is a tiny fish, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches (5-6.5 cm) long. Some pupfish engage in "pit digging," in which the fish rests at the water's bottom and wiggles its body in order to to churn up the mud and sand. Most pupfish have a life span of less than one year.ĭiet: Pupfish eat diatoms (microscopic unicellular algae with a hard cell wall), algae, and small aquatic invertebrates (like amphipods, gastropods, and ostracods). During the coldest parts of winter, pupfish burrow into the muddy bottom and become dormant until the weather warms up. Only a few bodies of water do not dry up completely, so very few pupfish survive. Lifecycle: Towards the end of summer, most desert pools and other desert waters dry up, killing most pupfish. Many types of pupfish are endangered species due to a loss of habitat and to competition from exotic species of fish that have been introduced to their habitat. Pupfish are found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts (in northwestern Mexico, southern California, USA, and Arizona, USA). The Pupfish, genus Cyprinodon, is a tiny fish that lives in springs, ponds, marshes, and slow-flowing streams in the deserts of southwestern North America. Our subscribers' grade-level estimate for this page: Today's featured page: My Reading Log, A Printable Book for Fluent Readers is a user-supported site.Īs a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages.