January 18, 2025 at 12:53 pm

A Recent California Earthquake Affected The Only Known Home Of The Endangered Pupfish

by Trisha Leigh

Source: Shutterstock

Earthquakes are rough on everyone, but most of us probably never stop to wonder how they might affect the animal and plant life around the site.

The fact that the pupfish are critically endangered and only live around the epicenter of California’s recent earthquake makes it all the more dire that someone does stop and think about it, though.

Roughly 500 miles from the epicenter of the December 5th earthquake lies a cavern that’s home to the Devils Hole Pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). The watery home changed quickly from pretty still to pretty shaky.

Source: Shutterstock

The geothermal pool they live in is at the bottom of a collapsed cave, so the pupfish aren’t likely to be used to much – if any – movement at all.

The waves that encroached due to the quake reached nearly 24 inches high, enough to disturb the main spawning area of the pupfish, but as of now, National Parks Service biologist Dr. Kevin Wilson is still trying to figure out what this means.

“In the short term, this is bad for the pupfish. A lot of pupfish food just sank deeper into the cave, most likely too deep for the fish to get to it. There were likely pupfish eggs on the shelf that were destroyed.”

That said, it’s likely not all bad news.

“In the long term, this type of reset is good for the pupfish. It cleaned off any decaying organic matter that could otherwise cause pockets of low oxygen.”

Source: Public Domain

After previous earthquake-induced waves (seiches, for the curious among you), the pupfish have not only survived, but increased in number.

Earthquakes, it would seem, aren’t as big a danger as climate change and human activity, then.

Go figure.

Thought that was fascinating? Here’s another story you might like: Why You’ll Never See A Great White Shark In An Aquarium