A 7.0 earthquake sends Death Valley's endangered fish species into overdrive

Strong earthquakes like the one felt in Northern California last week are a stark reminder for people to plan — perhaps to fortify their homes or businesses, or at the very least, build that earthquake kit.

But for the Devils Hole pupfish, an endangered species found only in a deep limestone cave in Death Valley, the quake signals it's time to do something more intimate.

Scientists say the fish's likely response to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which shook a large area from San Francisco to Reno to southern Oregon, was to increase spawning activity to protect their numbers. It is a phenomenon that has occurred during several previous earthquakes.

About two minutes after the quake, water began flowing in the Devil's Hole area, about 500 miles from the epicenter. Scientists estimate that the waves, known as seiche, were about two feet high. For a typically still water environment, the waves disrupted the shallow shelf that pupfish use as a spawning area, potentially knocking the eggs deeper into the cave.

“There have been observations in the past that after flood events and after these earthquakes, fish have evolved to respond by increasing their spawning,” said Kevin Wilson, a biologist with the National Park Service. “Think of it this way, ‘Oh, no, there's been a radical change in my home, my home. “I'd better try to have more children.”

The response is not irrational, according to scientists.

In 1967, the pupfish was classified as an endangered species, one of the first in the United States. Before the mid-1990s, scientists counted 200 to 250 baby devilfish each spring. But over the course of about 20 years, the fish population declined to an average of about 90 fish, with an all-time low of 35 fish in 2013.

But population numbers, which occur in the spring and fall, have been higher recently. Scientists found 191 juvenile fish in April, the highest spring count since 1999. In September, 212 fish were swimming around Devil's Hole.

In the short term, earthquakes aren't good for pupfish, Wilson said. The waves push the algae growing on the limestone shelf and the small invertebrates that the fish eat deeper into the cave, which is likely too deep for young swimmers to reach. But he said there is a long-term benefit. The waves wash away decaying organic matter that can cause pockets of low oxygen, which can be fatal to young fish eggs.

Wilson, who has spent years studying pupfish, said scientists can learn a lot about the impacts of issues like climate change from Devils Hole and those tiny fish.

“I like to call Devils Hole sort of the canary in the coal mine or the astronaut,” Wilson said. “The changes we discover in response to climate change and increased atmospheric temperature right now and how they affect this ecosystem, we can apply that to other ecosystems that will become warmer in the future.”

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