Gammarus desperatus
Encyclopedia
Gammarus desperatus is a species of amphipod
crustacean
in the family Gammaridae
.
G. desperatus was formerly found at three sites in New Mexico
, but it has since been extirpated
from two of these sites. G. desperatus only survives within Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
. It is listed as critically endangered
on the IUCN Red List
, and as an endangered species
under the United States Endangered Species Act
.
Amphipoda
Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...
crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
in the family Gammaridae
Gammaridae
Gammaridae is a family of amphipods. In North America they are included among the folk taxonomic category of "scuds", and otherwise gammarids is usually used as a common name....
.
G. desperatus was formerly found at three sites in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, but it has since been extirpated
Local extinction
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...
from two of these sites. G. desperatus only survives within Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in two separate sections in central Chaves County, New Mexico, USA, a few miles northeast of the city of Roswell. Both sections lie on the banks of the Pecos River...
. It is listed as critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
, and as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
under the United States Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
.