Tecopa pupfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tecopa pupfish |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cyprinodontiformes |
| Family: | Cyprinodontidae |
| Genus: | Cyprinodon |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
†C. n. calidae
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| Trinomial name | |
| Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae R. R. Miller, 1948
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The Tecopa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae) was a small fish. It lived in the hot springs of the Mojave Desert in California. This special fish could handle very warm water. It was a type of pupfish, which is a small, hardy fish. Sadly, its home was changed by people, and new kinds of fish were brought in. Because of this, the Tecopa pupfish became extinct around 1970.
What Was the Tecopa Pupfish?
The Tecopa pupfish belonged to a group of fish called Cyprinodon. This group is part of the pupfish family, Cyprinodontidae. These fish are a type of killifish and are very common in North America.
Many different kinds of Cyprinodon fish developed a long time ago. This happened when large lakes in the desert dried up. Small groups of fish became separated in the remaining water. Over time, these isolated groups changed and became new species.
A scientist named Robert Rush Miller first described the Tecopa pupfish in 1948. He studied them for six years. He also found five other types of pupfish in the same area. These included the Amargosa River pupfish, the Ash Meadows pupfish, and the Saratoga Springs pupfish. Other similar fish in the region are the Death Valley pupfish and the Devils Hole pupfish.
Appearance and Habits
The Tecopa pupfish was quite small. It grew to be about 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5 to 4 cm) long. Its back fin was closer to its tail than its head. The fins on its belly were tiny or sometimes missing.
When male pupfish were ready to breed, they turned a bright blue color. Female pupfish had between six and ten dark stripes on their bodies.
These fish mostly ate tiny plant-like organisms called cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Sometimes, they would also eat small bugs like mosquito larvae. The Tecopa pupfish was amazing because it could live in water that was 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 °C) or even hotter!
Why the Tecopa Pupfish Disappeared
The Tecopa Hot Springs are located about 2 miles north of the town of Tecopa, California. This area is in Inyo County, California. The water flowing out of these two hot springs was the only place where the Tecopa pupfish lived.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the hot springs became very popular. This led to big changes in the pupfish's home. People built bathhouses, which made the hot spring pools larger. The water flowing out of the springs was also moved around.
In 1965, the water from the northern and southern hot springs was joined together. This made the water flow faster. It also made the water downstream too hot for the pupfish to survive. These changes also allowed another type of pupfish, the Amargosa River pupfish, to swim upstream. They mixed with the Tecopa pupfish, creating hybrid fish.
By 1966, scientist Robert Miller found that the Tecopa pupfish population was almost gone. Two years later, some pupfish were found in a nearby motel's reservoir. However, these fish might have already mixed with the Amargosa River pupfish.
In 1970, people became worried about the changes to the habitat. They were also concerned about new fish like the bluegill and the western mosquitofish being in the area. Because of these worries, the Tecopa pupfish was put on lists of endangered species.
The last Tecopa pupfish were seen on February 2, 1970. The fish was likely extinct by the next year. Searches in 1972 and 1977 found no more of them. In 1978, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service said they were thinking about removing the fish from the endangered list. This was because it was already gone. Robert L. Herbst, a government official, said the loss was "totally avoidable." He meant that careful planning could have saved the fish.
In 1981, after a long search, the Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Tecopa pupfish extinct. It was the first animal removed from the Endangered Species Act because it had completely disappeared.
