Scale-eating Pupfish
Cyprinodon desquamator
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Fish
Cyprinodon desquamator is a scale-eating species of pupfish in the genus Cyprinodon. It is endemic to hypersaline interior lakes on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. It coexists alongside two other closely related Cyprinodon species C. brontotheroides and C. variegatus. Together, these three species represent a recent adaptive radiation, each having moved into a difference niche within their specialized environment. Each of these species are defined by distinct trophic adaptations that have affected various aspects of their functional morphology, behavior, strike kinematics, and reproductive coloration.
Classification
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Cyprinodontidae
- Genus
- Cyprinodon