Pupfish Species in Captivity

[d1am0ndback]

Pupfish are a group of small fish known for their rarity and in many cases restricted ranges. Because of this many are endangered and understudied, but many zoos and aquariums have taken in upon themselves to breed these rare fish. I am curious to see how many species are kept in zoos and aquariums worldwide, and what zoos and aquariums they are kept at.

I only know of 4 species off the top of my head.

Desert Pupfish- Cyprinodon macularius- Pheonix Zoo

Pecos Pupfish- Cyprinodon pecosensis- Fort Worth Zoo

Charco Palma Pupfish- Cyprinodon veronicae- Children's Aquarium at Fair Park

Devil's Hole Pupfish- Cyprinodon diabolis- Mandalay Bay Aquarium

 

[Kakapo]

London Zoo keeps not less than 6 different pupfish species!

• Charco Palma pupfish (Cyprinodon veronicae)

• La Palma pupfish (Cyprinodon longidorsalis)

• Maya pupfish (Cyprinodon maya)

• Mezquital pupfish (Cyprinodon meeki)

• Potosi pupfish (Cyprinodon alvarezi)

• Thicklip pupfish (Cyprinodon labiosus)

From these, all species except Charco Palma and Potosi pupfishes are kept exclusively at London zoo amongst all European zoos, according to Zootierliste.
All of them are endangered or crytically endangered and C. longidorsalis and C. alvarezi are extinct in the wild Unfortunately, when I was here in 2006, they only had C. longidorsalis on exhibit. Probably the other species were behind the scenes.

 

[temp]

Worth checking zootierliste for the pupfish family:
ZootierlisteHomepage

In addition a few a maintained among private aquarists, although this primarily involves species that are not gravely endangered (e.g., Aphanius mento, Cubanichthys, Jordanella).

 

[aardvark250]

Cyprinodon macularius -higashiyama zoo(according to jaza)