American Fisheries Society's Endangered Species Committee compiled a 2007 list of freshwater crayfishes in the United States and Canada. It includes 363 taxa across 12 genera and 2 families, with 48% of species or subspecies considered imperiled. The compilation updates a previous 1996 list.
Use Cases
- Analyze the relationship between conservation status (e.g., Vulnerable, Threatened, Endangered) and geographic distribution (state/province assignments).
- Identify genera or families with high proportions of imperiled taxa from the list of 363 crayfish species and subspecies.
- Map native and introduced distributions using the state/province assignments for each taxon.
- Study major threats like habitat loss and nonindigenous introductions highlighted for specific crayfish taxa.
- Assess data gaps by identifying taxa where basic ecological and distributional information is lacking.
Strengths
- Lists 363 distinct crayfish taxa, providing a substantial species inventory.
- Classifies taxa into specific conservation categories: 54 Vulnerable, 52 Threatened, 66 Endangered, and 2 Possibly Extinct.
- Provides native distribution data mapped to states and provinces.
Limitations
- Basic ecological and current distributional information is lacking for 60% of the listed fauna.
- Status assignments for many taxa are hampered by a paucity of recent distributional information.
- The data reflects a 2007 assessment and may not capture recent population changes.
Provenance
- Source
- American Fisheries Society Endangered Species Committee.
- Collection Method
- Committee evaluation using sources including Taylor et al. (1996) and state-specific literature and websites.
- Time Range
- Assessment published in 2007, updating a 1996 revision.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- United States and Canada.