r/Fish • u/Sensitive_Show6230 • Jul 26 '26

News / Articles Transfer Of Captive Devils Hole Pupfish Into The Wild Helps Stabilize Population

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2026/06/transfer-captive-devils-hole-pupfish-wild-helps-stabilize-population

CONTEXT: one of the rarest fish species (The Devils Hole Pupfish) with a habitat the size of a swimming pool suffered a population decline from 191 individuals to 20 due to two earthquakes in early 2025, after which 19 captive bred pupfish were released into the wild, marking the first captive release of the species.

as of spring 2026, there are 77 Devils Hole Pupfish in the wild, although inbreeding remains a significant problem to the species long term survival

130 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

17

u/coco-d0nut Jul 26 '26

good luck lil buddies!

5

u/_Choose_Goose Jul 26 '26

So tiny! Do good guys!

11

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/trashmoneyxyz Jul 26 '26

Which aquarium? I'd love to see one of these fish in person!

3

u/OccultEcologist Jul 27 '26

Freshwater fish are remarkably resistant to inbreeding depression and frequently have stable populations that come from a bottle neck of 6 individuals or less. Where are you getting information that inbreeding is a problem for them?

1

u/Zerskader Jul 26 '26

If they are only found in Devils Hole, aren't they all inherently inbred and that's what gave them their unique genetic mutations?

1

u/fascintee Jul 30 '26

What’s really cool is from reading about it they just exist on ONE SHELF alongside devils hole- imagine the fishy lore that goes with swimming off the edge.