the land area of Cedros Island. Vargas or El Aguaje de Vargas is the most important spring, with a flow of 180 drums of 200 L or 55 US gal every 12 hours; springs on the island are usually marked by groves of palm trees. Fauna Large sea lion colonies are found on the rocks on the west side as well as the anchorage on the north end. There are feral goats on Cedros. Unlike on other islands in the region (notably Guadalupe Island), they do not seem to have had a significant impact on the island ecosystem. This would be due to the fact that Cedros is on the continental shelf close to the coast and, at least temporarily, it was connected to the mainland during the last ice age when sea levels were lower than today. Then, and as a consequence of this, there are native Cedros herbivores, such as Cedros Island mule deer which on one hand compete with the goat population for food and presumably have kept it from increasing beyond carrying capacity, and on the other hand forced the native plants to keep their defenses against herbivores, unlike plants on islands without megaherbivores, which tend to lack those defenses. Fish are abundant around Cedros Island. California yellowtail, a subspecies of yellowtail amberjack, are very plentiful in the waters around the island, as it is their breeding ground. These fish like to live in the kelp beds of the island. Other fish, such as calico bass and sheepshead are also very plentiful near the island. Endemism Cedros Island is home to a number of taxa that are endemic or occur in very few places outside the island. These include: Animals Cedros side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana concinna - endemic Cedros Island Bewick's wren, Thryomanes bewickii cerroensis - near-endemic Cedros Island mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus cerrosensis - endemic Cedros Island brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani cerrosensis - endemic - Cedros Island cactus mouse, Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis - endemic - Plants Cryptantha maritima var. cedrosensis - endemic Dudleya cedrosensis - endemic Dudleya pachyphytum (Cedros Island Liveforever) - endemic Eriogonum molle (Cedros soft buckwheat) - endemic Ferocactus chrysacanthus - endemic Harfordia macroptera ssp. fruticosa - endemic Linanthus veatchii - endemic Lotus cedrosensis - endemic Mammillaria goodridgei var. goodridgei - endemic Mammillaria goodridgei var. rectispina - endemic Mimulus stellatus - endemic Monardella thymifolia - endemic Penstemon cedrosensis - endemic Pinus radiata var.