Here Are The Most Endangered Animals In Maryland

When you think of the planet’s most endangered species, some common examples that might come to mind include rhinos, elephants, tigers, gorillas and leopards. But a new report has identified the two most endangered species in every state — and the answer might not be what you think.

In Maryland the two most threatened animals are the Hay’s Spring Amphipod (stygobromus hayi) and the Maryland Darter (etheostoma sellare), according to the report released by 24/7 Wall St.

• Hay’s Spring Amphipod
  • Scientific name: stygobromus hayi
  • IUCN Red List classification: Endangered
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classification: Endangered
  • Description: The Hay's spring amphipod is a small crustacean that resembles a tiny shrimp only one centimeter long. They live in small crevasses and cracks of small freshwater springs, where they eat decaying leaves and other organic materials from the forests around them. Because they spend their lives in darkness, they are blind and lack pigment.
  • Geographic range: Range includes a single spring inside the Smithsonian National Zoo — less than two square yards of habitat, plus about eight locations in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.
• Maryland Darter
  • Scientific name: etheostoma sellare
  • IUCN Red List classification: Extinct
  • Description: The freshwater fish was last seen in 1986.
  • Geographic range: This species was known only from tributaries of the lower Susquehanna River in Harford County. Most recently, this species was restricted to a single riffle in Deer Creek (the only known extant population in the 1980s); occasional strays have occurred in Gasheys Run downstream (where breeding habitat apparently is lacking). There are no recent records from the type locality (Swan Creek, near Havre de Grace).
  • Habitat: This species habitat includes fast rocky riffles of creeks. As of the 1980s, this darter inhabited the first major riffle above tidewater in Deer Creek; it also used (particularly young and juveniles) adjacent pools. The riffle has bottom ranging from rubble to gravel and has an abundance of rooted aquatic plants. Spawning occurs probably in gravel riffles.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are 12 threatened or endangered species in Maryland including the gray bat, piping plover and the leatherback sea turtle.

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Hawaii has by far the most number of animals on the federal registry at more than 500. While accounting for just 0.2 percent of America’s land mass, it is home to a quarter of the federally endangered species, according to the Mother Nature Network.

Other animals on the 24/7 Wall St. list include various species of sea turtles, rabbits and cranes. More broadly, it features mammals, marine animals, fish, insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles, to name just a few.Various species of mollusks — a key sustenance source for fish — make the list, including the spectaclecase, a freshwater mussel. This is often because of the construction of dams, which disrupt the flow of water and can even change its temperature, leading to massive mollusk losses.

The financial news and opinion site reviewed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s listing of endangered animals to identify the most threatened animals in every state. The site says many of the animals appear in multiple states.

“Only 31 states have animals endangered only there,” the authors said.

To identify which of the threatened animals in those states were in the most dire circumstances, the site used the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s inventory of threatened species. Many of the most threatened animals on on the IUCN’s “Red List of Threatened Species” were labeled “critically endangered.”

We used this same approach to evaluate the threat level of endangered animals in the remaining 19 states, but in these cases animals may be listed as endangered in other states as well.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

PHOTO: Illustration of Maryland Darter, courtesy of Dr. John Neely, via Maryland Department of Natural Resources