Some interesting background, from 2014....
The Unexceptional Devil’s Hole Pupfish".....These fish—the Devil’s Hole pupfish—are considered to be some of the most endangered fish in the world. They’re completely cut off from all other pupfish species, having lived in Devil’s Hole for countless generations, unable to reach their nearest cousins. In the spring of 2013, there were only 35 pupfish found during the September count. Only 35 members of this entire species left on Earth.
There are plenty of pupfish in the world; some 120 species have been identified from 10 or so genera. But the Devil’s Hole Pupfish are unique....It is thought that these little fish were first introduced to Devil’s Hole during the last ice age. Back then, the entire valley was filled with water. As the climate warmed, the giant lake began to shrink, leaving pockets of water each with its own pupfish population.
How long have the pupfish in Devil’s Hole been isolated? Estimates vary widely, ranging from hundreds of thousands of years to tens of thousands of years......
.....The genetics told the same story as the models—that the pupfish have been isolated at least an order of magnitude less time than previously thought.......
..... how did these fish end up in a hole in the desert? Perhaps, think some scientists, the same way that lake trout have found themselves in the waters of Yellowstone or that Indo-Pacific lionfish have made their way into the Atlantic: us. “Humans today move fish around regularly,” says Stockwell. Historically speaking, Native Americans in the area were known to utilize pupfish as a food source. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where nomadic groups either intentionally or accidentally introduced the pupfish to Devil’s Hole....."
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2014/09/30/unexceptional-devils-hole-pupfish/Of course, there are a lot of maybe's in this story. And I hope nobody will think I'm defending a bunch of drunks who kill rare fish. Just trying to make the story more interesting.
