Name: Milana, Yoj M.

Date: May 05, 2023

Course/Section/Schedule: PS2A – ZGE 1107 Score ________
Activity M9
Philippine Wildlife Species Profile

1. Common name: Devil’s Hole Pupfish

2. Scientific name: Cyprinodon diabolis

3. IUCN Red List conservation status: CR or Critically Endangered

4. Location: Range is restricted to a single, deep limestone pool at the bottom of Devils Hole, Ash
Meadows, Death Valley National Park, Nevada

5. Describe the animal’s habitat.

The spring pool of Devil's Hole (Nevada) is located some 60 ft (18 m) below the land surface, where there is a
shallow rock shelf approximately 8 ft (2.4 m) by 16 ft (5 m). Just beyond the shelf, the spring descends to an
unknown depth into a myriad of chasms, mostly unexplored. Most of the pupfish's reproductive and feeding
activity takes place on the shallow shelf.

6. List the animal’s principal sources of food.

The pupfish consumes nearly every available food resource at Devils Hole, including beetles, snails, algae, and
freshwater crustaceans, with diet varying throughout the year. It is preyed on by the predaceous diving beetle
species Neoclypeodytes cinctellus, which was first observed in Devils Hole in 1999 or 2000.

7. List the animal’s principal enemies in the wild.

Predators of the Devils Hole pupfish include the diving beetle species Neoclypeodytes cinctellus, which
consumes its eggs and juveniles. N. cinctellus likely also preys on some of the same invertebrates as does the
Devils Hole pupfish, meaning that it is a competitor as well as a predator.

8. What elements in the animal’s habitat are most important for its survival?
Algae growth, in turn, depends on the amount of sunlight that strikes the surface of the shelf pool within
Devil's Hole. During the summer, the shelf receives about four hours of sunlight a day; no direct sunlight
reaches the water surface during winter. Any decline in water level directly affects the amount of sunlight
reaching the water, and thus food availability for the pupfish.

9. What factors are threatening or endangering its survival?

The primary threat to the pupfish's survival in the wild continues to be reduction of water levels needed to
maintain the habitat. Other potential threats include surface runoff, which carries sand and silt into the
underground caverns. Devil's Hole is part of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, which has acquired
water rights in the region.
 10. What steps are being taken to protect and preserve the animal?
The first goal of recovery is to stabilize the Devil's Hole habitat, but the species will probably remain
threatened, even if pristine conditions are reestablished. For this reason, it is important to maintain the
captive population. Scientists are concerned that the Hoover Dam population is not genetically pure, since
these pupfish are larger in body size than the Devil's Hole population.

11. What are its chances of survival?

The status of the species has improved considerably in the past 10 years, but its populations are persistently
small and localized. Prior to this, the removal of groundwater from wells pumping to support cattle and alfalfa
ranch reduced the water level within Devil's Hole.

12. What other steps could be taken to preserve this species?

In addition, the Devil's Hole minimum water level must be 1.4 ft (0.4 m) below the copper washer with a
minimum pupfish population of 300 individuals during winter and 700 during late fall; two refugia populations
must be established for the Devil's Hole pupfish; and native plant and aquatic communities and have been
reestablished to historic structure and composition within all essential habitats.

13. Why it is important to preserve this species?

Unlike its brethren in the park, the Devils Hole pupfish have several distinctive characteristics, including its
smaller size, absence of pelvic fins, low fecundity (unfortunately), and less aggressive behavior.