White Sands pupfish
Cyprinodon tularosa Miller & Echelle, 1975
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

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Open encyclopedia reference
The White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa) is an endangered species of pupfish from the family Cyprinodontidae. The native range of the White Sands pupfish included the Pleistocene Lake Otero and its surrounding tributaries. Currently, the extant populations of White Sands pupfish reside on the Tularosa Basin in White Sands, New Mexico, United States. Four populations of White Sands pupfish exist: native populations found in Salt Creek and Malpais Spring, and two introduced populations in Mound Spring and Lost River.
Wikipedia contributors, White Sands pupfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:32:48.358882+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cyprinodon tularosa Miller & Echelle, 1975
- Name authority
- Miller & Echelle, 1975
- Common name
- White Sands pupfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Cyprinodontidae
- Genus
- Cyprinodon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCyprinodontiformes
- familyCyprinodontidae Wagner, 1828
- subfamilyCyprinodontinae Wagner, 1828
- genusCyprinodon Lacepède, 1803
- speciesCyprinodon tularosa Miller & Echelle, 1975
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cyprinodon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cyprinodon alvarezi Miller, 1976 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon arcuatus Minckley & Miller, 2002 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yucatan pupfishCyprinodon artifrons Hubbs, 1936 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| San Ignacio pupfishCyprinodon bobmilleri Lozano-Vilano & Contreras-Balderas, 1999 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon bondi Myers, 1935 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon bovinus Baird & Girard, 1853 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon brontotheroides Martin & Wainwright, 2013 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon elegans Baird & Girard, 1853 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hidden PupfishCyprinodon esconditus Strecker, 2002 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Conchos PupfishCyprinodon eximius Girard, 1859 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Carbonera PupfishCyprinodon fontinalis Smith & Miller, 1980 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cyprinodon higuey Rodriguez & Smith, 1990 | CyprinodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Miller, R. R., & Echelle, A. A. (1975). Cyprinodon tularosa, a new cyprinodontid fish from the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist, 19 (4): 365–377. https://doi.org/10.2307/3670395 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:33HP4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.