About Cyprinodon salinus Miller, 1943
Cyprinodon salinus, commonly called the Death Valley Pupfish, is a small fish species. Adults have an average total length of 3.7 cm (1.5 in), and the maximum recorded length for the species is 7.8 cm (3.1 in). Most individuals have a silvery base body color with 6 to 9 dark vertical bands running along their sides. Males are typically larger than females, and develop a bright blue body color during their mating season, which runs from April through October. Females and immature juvenile Death Valley Pupfish usually have tanned colored backs and iridescent silvery sides. All members of this species have plump bodies, rounded fins, a flattened head, and an upturned mouth. This pupfish can tolerate extreme environmental conditions that would kill most other fish species. It can survive in water four times as saline as ocean water, in water as hot as 116 °F (47 °C), and in water as cold as 32 °F (0 °C). This species is endemic to Death Valley, and is currently only found in two native locations, both below sea level. The nominate subspecies C. s. salinus lives in Salt Creek, which sits approximately 49 m (161 ft) below sea level, while the subspecies C. s. milleri lives in Cottonball Marsh, which sits approximately 80 m (260 ft) below sea level. The nominate Salt Creek subspecies is also found at River Springs and Soda Lake within Death Valley National Park. This species is thought to be a surviving relict population of a larger fish community that lived in the ancient Lake Manly, which dried up at the end of the last ice age to form modern Death Valley.
