Species Information

Kingdom: Animalia
  Phylum: Arthropoda
    Class: Malacostraca
      Order: Amphipoda
        Family: Gammaridae
          Genus: Gammarus
            Species: desperatus

Noel's Amphipod - Gammarus desperatus

Noel's Amphipod

Image courtesy of Biota Information System of New Mexico

292772

Species Extent (New Mexico)

General Description

Noel's Amphipod (Gammarus desperatus) is a 9-15 mm amphipod with 19 segments that has been found at the Roswell Country Club and Lander Springbrook in Chaves County and at Lost River on Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern New Mexico. They inhabit warm (20-25?C), mineral spring waters in desert grasslands associated with limestone formations. Amphipods are most active at night, hiding in vegetation and other cover during the day.

Status

Global Rank: G2

State Rank: S1

Rank Metadata
State Rank: S1 Rank Changed: 04/30/2025
Rank Reviewed: 06/02/2004
Reason: Two of the three known subpopulations of <em>G. desperatus</em> have been extirpated in the last century, one population is known to still exist at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA. While this population is currently stable under present management regimes, habitat loss and deterioration still threaten the survival of the species. Historically this has also caused the loss of one of the two populations of this species. Regional groundwater pumping and oil/gas industry operations are ongoing in the Pecos River Valley which can threaten the water this species relies on. The encroachment of residential development in the area also increases the potential risk of groundwater contamination from domestic sewage. As a result, this species is currently assessed as S1 in New Mexico however, a reassessment should be done if more information becomes available.
 
Ecological Factors
Specificity: Very narrow. Specialist or community with key requirements scarce. Range Extent: <100 square km (less than about 40 square miles)
Occurences: 1 - 5 Population Size: Unknown
Area of Occupancy: With the extirpation of the North Spring colony this species now is only known from one occurrence record in New Mexico at Rio Hondo, located in the south tract of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Cannizzaro and Berg 2024). Threat Summary: N/A

State Status: E

Federal Status: Listed Endangered [LE]

USFS Status:

BLM Status:

SWAP Status: SGCN

NMRP Strategy Status:

Observations in Natural Heritage New Mexico Database

Number of Subpopulations: 3

Number of Mapped Locations: 10

Number of Observations: 19

Observation date range: 04-01-2009 to 07-26-2019


Species Related Publications

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