ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR LISTED: 1993

CRITICAL HABITAT:  1,724 acres in Ventura, Orange and San Diego counties designated in 2012

RECOVERY PLAN: 1998

RANGE: California's Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties; and Baja California, Mexico

THREATS: Urban sprawl, agribusiness, off-road vehicles, livestock grazing, wetland draining, invasion of nonnative plants, pollution, fire and fire-suppression activities

POPULATION TREND: The Riverside fairy shrimp is in decline and has the most limited range of any endemic California fairy shrimp. Sometimes Riverside fairy shrimp are overlooked during vernal pool surveys because they hatch out and swim later in the season than many other fairy shrimp, and if they aren't detected, the pool they live in is often plowed up.

Photo courtesy Victoria School IT Club