#and some agencies were like hey don’t build those here there are these pupfish

[feather-bone]

This is the devil’s hole pupfish! A tiny species that lives only in One water-filled limestone cavern in Nevada. It was one of the first animals on the endangered species list. At the last count in 2022 there were 263 pupfish observed - the most in 19 years! They’re tracked pretty carefully, as their 215 square foot habitat (the smallest of any know vertebrate) is fragile and has been disturbed in the past by groundwater extraction and other human interference.

[ID: an illustration of a shiny metallic blue fish, the male devil’s hole pupfish, facing to the right. It is on a lighter blue background with a ripple pattern. End.] l

#fish #fishes #fishblr #devils hole pupfish #icthyology #they were apparently controversial little guys in the 70s bc a family bought the land they’re on and tried to build a bunch of wells #and some agencies were like hey don’t build those here there are these pupfish #and I guess they went to court and it was a whole publicized thing and folks were getting bumper stickers that said either #save the pupfish or kill the pupfish #and the concept of being so self absorbed that you’re like I would rather a species go extinct forever than for one human family to have #wasted some money #and I’m gonna get a bumper sticker that informs you of this #is so fucking funny to me