In 1997 I visited Tucson in Arizona. In front of the entrance of the main museum there was a trench filled with water. In this trench some live-bearing tooth carps were swimming, not looking too spectacular. There was also the information that these little fish would make up two thirds of the world wide population of the said species. On www.iNaturalist.org I did not find any fitting observation. Does anybody know to which species they belong, if they are still there, and which faith occured to them in the last 28 years? Thanks in advance! ..
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Which museum was this? Was it the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missed_connection
I think I found some information for you, but first, your post made me smile, because it sounds like a “missed connections” classified ad:
“It was Tucson, 1997. You: a glittering blue jewel, darting about in the museum trench. Me: a young Austrian tourist, dazzled by your beauty. Our eyes locked for a moment. You had a vacant stare, almost like no brain activity. But for me, it was magical. Then you were distracted by a copepod, and you looked away. I never forgot that moment. I’ve been trying to find you again for 28 years. Let’s reconnect.”
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Maybe it was Cyprinodon macularius or one of the other pupfish. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum was and probably still is used as a refugium for a few different desert fish species.
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“The Museum took care of a display population of pupfish (C. macularius & C. eremus) from 1981 to 2018. When we first got them, they were not yet distinguished as two separate species! We also support pupfish by working with other organizations and helping to design and find space to build ponds. Future plans include getting a breeding population of the endangered Sonoyta pupfish (C. eremus) at the Museum!”
https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/facts/?animal=Desert%20and%20Sonoyta%20Pupfish
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