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Tiny snail
classified in danger
The snail, found only on
By Mary Adamski
Kauai, has a known
population of 7,000
Star-BulletinA tiny snail which is found only in six freshwater streams on Kauai has been designated an endangered species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday placed the Newcomb's Snail on the federal registry, the first step toward developing a recovery plan to keep the species from extinction.
Biologists estimate the six known populations of the snail total no more than 7,000. The snail reaches a quarter-inch in size and has a smooth black shell with a single oval whorl, unlike the typical snail's spiral shell.
The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund said it filed suit on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity in August to compel the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the snail and other three other native species.
After a settlement reached in November, the service published the Newcomb's snail rule and earlier this month, listed the Kauai cave wolf spider and the Kauai cave amphipod as endangered species, according to an Earthjustice new release.
Final listing of the Blackburn's sphinx moth is expected soon, according to the advocacy group. The largest native Hawaiian insect, it was believed extinct until a small population was discovered on Maui in 1984.
"The decline of the Newcomb's snail is yet another example of the devastating effect of alien species on Hawaii's native species and the ecosystems upon which they depend," said Anne Badgley, Pacific regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Biologists have identified several nonnative fish, snails, flies and frogs that threaten the survival of Newcomb's snail, which has declined by an estimated 60 percent since 1925.
Humans are also a potential threat should water development projects on the streams affect the fresh water springs which are their habitat.
If the federal agency designates the place where endangered species live as a critical habitat, it protects the area from federal departments action such as building projects or military training. But it does not regulate action by private landowners, Earthjustice said.
