Pupfishes
(Cyprinodontidae inc. Aphaniidae)
EEP Coordinator: Alex Cliffe, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
EEP page - Pupfishes
What are the EEP roles?
| Insurance/Ark |
| Population Restoration |
| Out of the 78 assessed pupfish species (known total is 137), 44 are known to be threatened and three extinct in the wild. For the Extinct in the Wild species, keeping an ex situ population is their only conservation option. For the other pupfish species, an insurance population is thought to be very important because it is deemed likely that the wild population will be suddenly lost. There is a mandate by IUCN for an insurance population for most of the 44 pupfish species that are known to be threatened, which is why the EEP aims to expand the number of managed species over time, as resources allow. |
| There may be a potential to re-establish some of the species in their former range (in line with the IUCN Reintroduction Guidelines). This means that providing disease-free, behaviorally competent, and genetically valuable individuals for release into the wild. |
| Research |
| Research is needed on disease management, population management and reproductive biology which will be used to inform future in and ex situ conservation actions. |
EEP in numbers
11 species are managed in this EEP which can be found below
| Species | Conservation status |
| La Palma pupfish (Cyprinodon longidorsalis) | Extinct in the wild |
| Charco pupfish (Cyprinodon veronicae) | Extinct in the wild |
| Potosi pupfish (Cyprinodon alvarezi) | Extinct in the wild |
| Mezquital pupfish (Cyprinodon meeki) | Endangered |
| Julimes Pupfish (Cyprinodon julimes) | Critically Endangered |
| San Ignacio (Cyprinodon bobmilleri) | Vulnerable |
| Anatolian killifish (Anatolichthys transgrediens) | Critically Endangered |
| Danford’s killifish (Anatolichthys danfordii) | Critically Endangered |
| Lake Salda killifish (Anatolichthys saldae) | Not Evaluated |
| Sirhani killifish (Aphaniops sirhani) | Critically Endangered |
| Footless killifish (Telia apodus) | Data Deficient |
Programme highlights
- Whipsnade Zoo has an information page about Mexican pupfishes and a page about their conservation work on freshwater fish species.
- Whipsnade Zoo has launched a global conservation project to conserve the Mexican pupfish species including the results from a survey done in the spring of 2025. The full Extinct in The Wild Pupfish Conservation Action Plan 2024 - 2019 can be found here. At the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress Reverse The Red awarded the project an Accelerator Award.
- A Green Status assessment of the Acigöl Killifish was published in 2024.
