Critically Endangered
Gammarus desperatus
Gammarus desperatus
Gammarus desperatus is a crustacean in the family Gammaridae (order Amphipoda), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
Noel's amphipods are a brownish-green color, with kidney-shaped eyes and red stripes running along numerous different segments.
Range and habitat
In summary, this species is very sensitive to habitat degradation. Noel's amphipod was formerly found at three sites in New Mexico, but it has since been eradicated from two of these sites. Noel's amphipod only survives within Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge at the Sago Spring Wetland Complex, Bitter Creek, and along the western boundary of Unit 6.
Second, preserve water quantity and quality.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The breeding times range from February to October depending on water temperatures. When a male and female amphipod come together to mate, the male grasps the female with its gnathopods and guards her for up to seven days to defend against potential rival males.
During this period of mate-guarding, the pair continue to feed and swim until the female molts. Shortly after molting, the female releases the eggs into the marsupium (egg pouch), and the male then fertilizes the eggs.
In crisis
It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and as an endangered species under the United States Endangered Species Act. In the past, amphipod populations have been able to reach extremely high densities, occasionally exceeding 10,000 per square meter. In 1954, Noel's amphipod was described as the largest population of macro-invertebrates at Lander Springbrook, with densities ranging from 2,338 to 10,416 per square meter.
In 1995 and 1996, on Bitter Lake National Wildlife refuge the Noel's amphipod population density ranged from 64 per square meter to 8,768 per square meter at Bitter Creek and 20 per square meter to 575 per square meter at Sago Spring Wetland Complex. In 1999, the population density of the Noel's amphipod at Unit 6 on Bitter Lake National Wildlife refuge was 344 per square meter.
Gammarus desperatus is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Gammarus desperatus, Wikidata item Q309203. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
