New Mexico
New study indicates a rare New Mexico fish may actually be two different species – NM Political Report
Researchers from Purdue University published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicating that a small fish that is only found in New Mexico may actually be two different species. This could have implications for the efforts to protect and conserve this unique animal. The White Sands pupfish is […]
Researchers from Purdue University published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicating that a small fish that is only found in New Mexico may actually be two different species.
This could have implications for the efforts to protect and conserve this unique animal.
The White Sands pupfish is only found in four springs. Two of those populations were created by humans releasing the imperiled fish into the springs.
While it is not listed on the federal endangered species list, New Mexico considers it a threatened species and there have been efforts in the past to get the White Sands pupfish listed as endangered.
A 2009 petition cites threats to the White Sands pupfish as exotic ungulates like the introduced oryx, missile-firing activity, water withdrawal and the invasive salt cedar plants.
The genetic research indicates that the pupfish from the Salt Creek population were taken and released to create the Lost River and Mound Spring populations.
The fourth population—found in Malpais Spring—is genetically distinct from the other three populations due to a phenomenon known as genetic drift. Essentially, about 5,000 years ago, the Carrizozo lava flow separated the Malpais Springs pupfish from the Salt Creek pupfish. Because of that separation, the two populations diverged genetically and became different species.
Andrew Black, a study co-author, said the researchers knew there were two distinct populations—or evolutionarily significant units—with different genetics when they went into the study process. But they discovered that the genetics are so different that the pupfish found in Malpais Springs is essentially a different species.
“The separation between samples from these two ESUs was huge!” Black said in a response to questions from NM Political Report. “The point was driven home when we looked at how differentiation between these two ESUs occurred across the entire genome. We were expecting relatively low levels of differentiation, with perhaps several peaks of high differentiation associated with genes underlying local adaptations, but instead we saw an extremely high background of differentiation across the entire genome. This, I believe, is when we decided we needed to change our study design from looking at two populations of one species to two different species.”
Black had previously researched the Leon Springs pupfish during his graduate studies before he went to work on postdoctoral research at Purdue University with Professor J. Andrew DeWoody.
“I was excited to work with pupfish again,” Black said in an email response to questions from NM Political Report. “For fish, they really are pretty charismatic.”
Black described them as “small chunky fish, with cool behavior and male nuptial coloration.” He said the “discrete desert springs they typically live in makes for a really interesting model.”
And, Black said, he’s always been interested in using genetics and genomics as a tool to protect and conserve imperiled species.
Black and his team have proposed calling the pupfish found in Salt Creek, Lost River and Mound Spring the enchanted pupfish—a reference to New Mexico being known as the Land of Enchantment. Meanwhile, they propose keeping the name White Sands pupfish for the Malpais Spring population.
But, before the enchanted pupfish can be officially declared a different species, other scientists need to concur.
Mike Ruhl, the assistant chief of the research and management section for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish’s Fisheries Management Division, said that the state is aware of the research project and the recent paper.
“White Sands Pupfish occur entirely on U.S. Department of Defense lands and are managed through a Conservation Team that includes White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department,” Ruhl said in a statement. “Given its very recent publication, the management implications of the article are currently unclear and adoption of new fish species designations is a function of the Committee on Names of Fishes, a joint committee of the American Fisheries Society and the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. The White Sands Pupfish Conservation Team will consider the research and its implications at its next meeting.”
WildEarth Guardians was behind the 2009 petition to have the pupfish listed as endangered, but it is unclear how the organization will respond to the study.
Joanna Zhang with WildEarth Guardians anticipates that the new study will have an impact.
Zhang said that if the pupfish is indeed two separate species, it means that the population found in Malpais Spring has no duplicate population. If something were to happen to Malpais Spring, the pupfish could be lost entirely. A refuge population could help provide some assurance that the rare pupfish could survive long into the future through human intervention, but, Zhang said, “ideally you don’t lose the population that’s out in the wild.”
The study also has other implications for conservation.
“Making sure that both of them have a robust population that has enough genetic diversity to remain viable in the long term, is really important,” Zhang said.
Black said that previous research and current genetic diversity estimates indicate that the White Sands pupfish has little genetic diversity.
“We showed that the genetic diversity levels of these fish are substantially lower than many other related species, close to the levels observed in several inbred lines of laboratory fish,” he said. “This is problematic as diversity is a good proxy of fitness and helps buffer environmental change.”
He said continued efforts to “ensure effective gene flow between populations of the same species” as well as conservation efforts to maintain good breeding habitat for the pupfish could help protect the genetic diversity that currently exists.
And researchers aren’t done examining the White Sands pupfish and its genetics.
One of Black’s co-authors, Erangi Heenkenda, has been sequencing the genomes of the White Sands pupfish overtime. This has involved taking genetic samples at two different time points approximately 18 years apart to examine how the species are changing.
Black said Heenkenda’s research should “be informative of the evolutionary processes occurring at a more contemporary time scale.”
CHIMAYO, N.M. (KRQE) – A suspect is dead following a shooting involving the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office in Chimayo on Highway 76. Deputies are said to be okay. New Mexico State Police is investigating the shooting.
KRQE News 13 will provide updates as they become available.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
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The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
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About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
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