These fish are critically endangered by virtue of the hellish environment they call home. Devils Hole is a more than 500 feet-deep, water-filled cavern in California’s Death Valley National Park near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. Despite being a desert, this region was underwater about 542 to 251 million years ago. Those waters receded over time and the pupfish have lived in this area for at least 10,000 years.
The pupfish are now only found in the upper 80 feet of the cave on an 11-foot by 16-foot shallow shelf in the cavern’s entrance. This is the smallest habitat of any vertebrate species on Earth. The water is about 93 degrees Fahrenheit all year, it has scarce food resources, and oxygen levels that kill other fish. A 2022 study found that the Devils Hole pupfish is also one of Earth’s most inbred species. This lack of genetic variation makes it difficult for them to reproduce and thrive.
A rare West Coast tropical storm system may have given this struggling species a bit of…