Tropical Fish Hobbyist - October 2010

Orange tadpole madtoms Noturus gyrinus are a temperate-water species, although they survive in the spring’s tropical temperatures.

form, with some areas having only one color form, but others with both.

Convict cichlids dominate the shallows along parts of the eastern and southern shoreline but become rare in a cove along the northeast shore that exhibits a noticeably high number of different species in proximity. Pale convicts often have pop-eye, but very few heavily barred convicts have this malady.

In the main pond I have seen fishes
that appear to be different from the nine
known species. All of these are again just
my own personal observations that would
require scientific investigations to verify
and then draw any valid conclusions from,
but whatever the truth may be, a simple
sand in the deepest parts of the pond; and
madtoms and dace are most prevalent
in the cooler, swifter-moving waters of
outflow channels.

A Living Laboratory

It is important to continue to monitor Kelly Warm Springs, both to keep track of exotic species and because it is a bizarre living laboratory. The species of this singular thermal pond have formed an unlikely ecosystem, and much can be studied about habitat preferences, interspecies interactions, temporal and spatial habitat use, the effects of year-round warm temperatures on temperate species in the wild, etc.

Fish, in particular livebearers and
cichlids, are also excellent subjects for
studying evolution. The Kelly convict
cichlids, swordtails, and guppies are
completely isolated from any other
Walking the shoreline of the spring and
channel during all four seasons, I’ve made
some anecdotal observations of my own. For
instance, in the main pond, I’ve only seen
guppies and goldfish along certain stretches

“The Kelly convict cichlids, swordtails, and guppies are completely isolated from any other population and have only recently (in geologic terms) established themselves in an unusual and unique system.”

The warm, mineral-rich waters of Kelly Warm Springs support an abundance of algae and aquatic plants year-round.

walk around this small pool got me looking closely into the waters.

Kelly Warm Springs is yet another unusual addition to Grand Teton National Park, and a surreal experience for anyone watching cichlids, swordtails, guppies, and bright-orange comet goldfish cavorting among shiners and dace in a geothermal bubbling spring, alongside free-roaming grazing bison and under the backdrop of jagged fairy-tale peaks.

population and have only recently (in geologic terms) established themselves in an unusual and unique system—this has possible applications for geneticists, animal behaviorists, ecologists, and taxonomists.

of shoreline; they are absent from similar-looking habitats along adjacent stretches of shore. I have seen (with the aid of binoculars) two color patterns of male swordtails, a blue-green sword form and a yellow-orange sword