TUCSON— In response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed giving Endangered Species Act protection to the Pecos pupfish. The small freshwater fish lives in the Pecos River Basin of New Mexico and Texas.

Conservationists petitioned in 2007 for protection for the Pecos pupfish. But it took a 2020 lawsuit for the Service to commit to a deadline to decide whether the species warrants protection — a decision that the law says should have been made in 2008.

“This is an important win for these amazing, diminutive fish, but it’s unfortunate that the proposed protection took almost 20 years,” said Krista Kemppinen, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the Center. “Pecos pupfish are disappearing from their native habitat because of invasion by nonnative fish, oil and gas extraction and other threats, and they won’t survive without decisive action.”

The Pecos pupfish was formerly found in the Pecos River and off-channel locations from just above Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico downstream to the confluence of Independence Creek in Texas. But the fish are now considered eliminated from a large section of their former range due to rapid invasion by nonnative fish, as well as surface and groundwater depletion and contamination from oil and gas extraction, agriculture and other uses.

“Fracking for oil and gas not only threatens more dewatering and pollution in this fish’s remaining habitat but also promotes runaway climate change in one of the fastest-warming regions of the country,” said Kemppinen. “Finalizing protection is crucial to helping the recovery of Pecos pupfish populations and their native freshwater habitats.”

Today’s decision opens a 60-day comment period. A final listing decision should be made within a year.

The Pecos pupfish is less than 2 inches long and varies in color from gray to brown to iridescent blue. The pupfish are omnivores and known for being able to survive harsh environments.