Conservation and management of the Rio Sonoyta pupfish (Cyprinodon eremus) in Sonora

Authors: Izar Izaguirre Pompa

Year: 2011 (xliii)

Abstract

The Rio Sonoyta pupfish (Cyprinodon eremus) is an endangered species that is extremely rare and threatened. The pupfish, formerly considered a subspecies of the endangered desert pupfish, occurs at only two sites in the wild; a one-acre pond at Quitobaquito Springs on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, and just across the border in a one kilometer-long reach of the Río Sonoyta, in northern Sonora. The risk of extinction for the Rio Sonoyta pupfish is very high because its distribution is so limited. Excessive groundwater pumping in a dry year combined with predation from nonnative fish species could easily eliminate the Río Sonoyta populations of Rio Sonoyta pupfish and longfin dace. The recovery plan for the pupfish calls for the creation of three reestablished populations in the Río Sonoyta drainage. In the last four years, a partnership led by the La Reserva de la Biosfera El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar has created and stocked several refuge sites with Rio Sonoyta (Agua Dulce reach) pupfish and longfin dace from the Río Sonoyta. Two are located at the Pinacate Reserve, one at the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO) in Puerto Peñasco, and one in the town of Sonoyta, at the high school (COBACH). Other conservation actions include an additional refuge population at the Quitovac Indigenous Community, monitoring of the river, and fish monitoring and maintenance of the refuge ponds. Future plans also include addressing vegetation management at the refuge ponds, working with partners on education, augmenting existing pupfish refuges in the U.S, and creating of one or two refuges in the U.S. for the longfin dace.