Pupfish in the USA
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King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
Pecos Pupfish are kept at a Fort Worth Zoo they had them on display, but that area in Texas Wild is closed for refurbishment so who knows when they will be visable again.
San Antonio Zoo as far as I know is the only holder of the Conchos pupfish, but they are kept and bred bts.
Desert Pupfish are kept at Phoenix Zoo, and potentially there are some Devils Hole Pupfish bts at some places for breeding
San Antonio Zoo as far as I know is the only holder of the Conchos pupfish, but they are kept and bred bts.
Desert Pupfish are kept at Phoenix Zoo, and potentially there are some Devils Hole Pupfish bts at some places for breeding
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
Cool article on Devil's Hole Pupfish here: How a tiny endangered species put a man in prison
One of the desert pupfish species is housed at the aquarium in Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas). One of my college professors researches pupfish in the wild, and consulted on the design of the exhibit there. It's a shame pupfish aren't more common in zoos, as they are some of my favorite fish and have so many unique adaptations.
I believe NC Zoo has desert pupfish in the dome, or did.
Gibbonsagainstgravity
Well-Known Member
They still do.
There's a pool of water at Phoenix Zoo that possibly still holds Desert Pupfish and it's on the Arizona Trail loop. I took this photo in 2011:
Great information, according to their website they have pupfish ponds on both the Africa and Arizona trails:There's a pool of water at Phoenix Zoo that possibly still holds Desert Pupfish and it's on the Arizona Trail loop. I took this photo in 2011:
Desert Pupfish | Phoenix Zoo.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
In the early 2010s, a full-scale replica of the upper 6.7 m (22 ft) of Devils Hole was built at the new Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility (AMFCF), resulting in a 380,000 L (100,000 U.S. gal) tank. Located less than a mile away, this refuge closely mimics the natural Devils Hole, including water chemistry, spawning shelf, and natural sunlight. It intentionally differs, however, in temperature and dissolved oxygen content. The temperature is 2–3 °C (3.6–5.4 °F) cooler than that of Devils Hole and the dissolved oxygen content is doubled in attempts to reduce thermal and respiratory stress on the fish.
The population of Devils Hole pupfish at AMFCF was created by taking eggs from Devils Hole. However, eggs are only removed at times of the year when it is unlikely that they would develop into mature adults, such as in the winter. It is thought that egg removal during this time would therefore have the least impact on the population size at Devils Hole. When transferred to AMFCF, the eggs are exposed to anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-parasite treatments. They are reared in the aquarium until adulthood, at which point they are transferred to the large refuge tank. This procedure is also followed for eggs laid in the refuge tank. While efforts have been made to remove the predaceous beetle Neoclypeodytes cinctellus from the captive population's tank to lessen its depredation on eggs, it has not been removed from Devils Hole. It is unknown how removal of the species could affect the Devils Hole ecosystem, and the number of beetles in Devils Hole is less than in the tank hosting the captive population.
As of 2021, the efforts of the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility have been considered "very successful" in maintaining a refuge population. At least fifty captive fish populated the refuge as of 2019, with an additional 10–20 in propagation tanks.
From: Devils Hole pupfish - Wikipedia
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CarnotaurusSastrei
Well-Known Member
I believe the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson maintains a population of Sonoyta and/or desert pupfish (since the information I can find mentions them being directly taken from Quitobaquito Springs, I think they're most likely Sonoyta pupfish). Also, while not a zoo or aquarium, there is also a pond stocked with Sonoyta pupfish located directly behind the visitor center at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
I meant to post this a while back, but here is a picture of the desert pupfish pond at the Phoenix Zoo in the Africa Trails area (Taken January 2 2024):
