Welcome to the Amargosa Pupfish Station

The Amargosa Pupfish Research Station is currently being replaced by a more technologically advanced facility that will be re-designated as a fish conservation facility. Construction is expected to be completed by January 2012. This web page will be updated in the future.

Devil’s Hole, a small water-filled limestone cavern, is the only natural habitat for the Devil’s Hole pupfish. Although located within Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the area is administered by the National Park Service as part of Death Valley National Park. The water depth of Devil’s Hole is several hundred feet deep. However, most of the pupfish persist on a small shallow shelf which provides critical feeding and spawning habitat. A few pupfish do venture as far as 90 feet deep within the pool, which is roughly the limit that sunlight penetrates. The water temperature in Devils’ Hole remains a constant 92 degrees Fahrenheit year round.