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Branchinecta paludosa

(O. F. Muller, 1788)

Circumpolar Fairy Shrimp

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.109952
Element CodeICBRA03130
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassBranchiopoda
OrderAnostraca
FamilyBranchinectidae
GenusBranchinecta
Concept Reference
Rogers, D. C., and I. R. Gardiner. 2023. Canadian records of Branchinecta serrata Rogers, 2006 and its confusion with B. paludosa (Müller, 1788)(Branchiopoda: Anostraca: Branchinectidae), with a key to the B. paludosa species group. Journal of Crustacean Biology 43(2):ruad025.
Taxonomic Comments
The Branchinecta "paludosa" species group includes B. paludosa, B. serrata, and most likely B. kaibabensis (Rogers and Aguilar 2020, Rogers and Gardiner 2023). Some records in the Interior Plains of Canada previously identified as B. paludosa are now referred to as B. serrata (Rogers and Gardiner 2023). Records reported from Arizona by Belk (1975, 1977) are B. kaibabensis (Belk and Fugate 2000).
Conservation Status
Review Date2008-10-01
Change Date2000-06-21
Edition Date2008-10-01
Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J.
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Widely distributed species from Arctic and subarctic habitats.
Range Extent Comments
Branchinecta paludosa is found in Arctic and Subarctic seasonal wetlands, vernal pools and temporary pools in USA, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Poland, and Russia. Also occurs in equivalent alpine habitats in the Rocky Mountains in Canada and USA. Some records in the Interior Plains of Canada are now referred to as B. serrata (Rogers and Gardiner 2023). Records reported from Arizona by Belk (1975, 1977) are B. kaibabensis (Belk and Fugate 2000).
Occurrences Comments
It is widely distributed throughout high northern latitudes around the world including Alaska, Yukon, coastal plains of the Arctic Ocean and Canadian Archipelago in general, Baffin Island, Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba, and Wyoming; with the farthest east in Nova Scotia and farthest south in Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming (Dexter, 1953). Hossack et al. (2010) collected this species in western Montana in one pond each in three drainages (Cutbank Creek, Lake Sherburne, Lee Creek) on the east side of Glacier National Park supporting earlier records from Park Co.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Arctic and subarctic or alpine equivalent seasonal wetlands.
Palustrine Habitats
TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLAND
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
WyomingS4Yes
UtahSNRYes
MontanaSNRYes
IdahoSNRYes
ColoradoSNRYes
AlaskaSNRYes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
AlbertaSNRYes
NunavutSNRYes
SaskatchewanSNRYes
QuebecSNRYes
Nova ScotiaSNRYes
ManitobaSNRYes
Yukon TerritorySNRYes
LabradorSNRYes
Roadless Areas (2)
Wyoming (2)
AreaForestAcres
Libby FlatsMedicine Bow-Routt National Forest11,107
Snowy RangeMedicine Bow-Routt National Forest29,660
References (13)
  1. Belk, D. 1975. Key to the Anostraca (fairy shrimps) of North America. The Southwestern Naturalist, 20(1); 91-103.
  2. Belk, D. 1977. Zoogeography of the Arizona fairy shrimps (Crustacea: Anostraca). Journal of the Arizona Academy of Science, 12: 70-78.
  3. Belk, D. and M. Fugate. 2000. Two new <i>Branchinecta </i>(Crustacea: Anostraca) from the southwestern United States. The Southwestern Naturalist, 45(2): 111-117.
  4. Dexter, R.W. 1953. Studies on North American fairy shrimps with the description of two new species. American Midland Naturalist 49:751-771.
  5. Hossack, B.R., R.L. Newell, and D.C. Rogers. 2010. Branchiopods (Anostraca, Notostraca) from protected areas of western Montana. Northwest Science 84(1):52-59.
  6. McLaughlin, P. A., D. K. Camp, M. V. Angel, E. L. Bousfield, P. Brunel, R. C. Brusca, D. Cadien, A. C. Cohen, K. Conlan, L. G. Eldredge, D. L. Felder, J. W. Goy, T. Haney, B. Hann, R. W. Heard, E. A. Hendrycks, H. H. Hobbs III, J. R. Holsinger, B. Kensley, D. R. Laubitz, S. E. LeCroy, R. Lemaitre, R. F. Maddocks, J. W. Martin, P. Mikkelsen, E. Nelson, W. A. Newman, R. M. Overstreet, W. J. Poly, W. W. Price, J. W. Reid, A. Robertson, D. C. Rogers, A. Ross, M. Schotte, F. Schram, C. Shih, L. Watling, G. D. F. Wilson, and D. D. Turgeon. 2005. Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Crustaceans. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 31. 545 pp.
  7. Rogers, D. C. 2013. Anostraca catalogus (Crustacea: Branchiopoda). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61(2):525–546.
  8. Rogers, D. C., and A. Aguilar. 2020. Molecular evaluation of the fairy shrimp family Branchinectidae (Crustacea: Anostraca) supports peripatric speciation and complex divergence patterns. Zoological Studies 59:1-17.
  9. Rogers, D.C. and B.J. Hann. 2016. Class Branchiopoda (in Chapter 16, Phylum Arthropoda). Pages 437-477 in J.H. Thorp and and D.C. Rogers (Editors), Thorp and Covich’s Freshwater Invertebrates, 4th edition, Volume II: Keys to Nearctic Fauna. Academic Press.
  10. Rogers, D. C., and I. R. Gardiner. 2023. Canadian records of <i>Branchinecta serrata</i> Rogers, 2006 and its confusion with <i>B. paludosa</i> (Müller, 1788)(Branchiopoda: Anostraca: Branchinectidae), with a key to the <i>B. paludosa</i> species group. Journal of Crustacean Biology 43(2):ruad025.
  11. Rogers, D. C. and M. A. Hill. 2013. Annotated Checklist of the large branchiopod crustaceans of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, USA, with the "rediscovery" of a new species of <i>Branchinecta </i>(Anostraca: Branchinectidae). Zootaxa. 3694:249-261.
  12. Saunders, J. F., D. Belk, and R. Dufford. 1993. Persistence of Branchinecta paludosa (Anostraca) in southern Wyoming, with notes on zoogeography. Journal of Crustacean Biology 13:184-189
  13. Saunders, J.F., III. Eubranchiopoda of Colorado, Part 2. Anostraca. Natural History Inventory of Colorado 6: 1-23.