Branchinecta lindahli (Versatile Fairy Shrimp)
Credit: Shannon Kieran Blair
about the species
The Versatile Fairy Shrimp (Branchinecta lindahli) is a widespread ephemeral wetland specialist that occurs east from Iowa to California, and south from Alberta, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico. It occurs in temporary waters including vernal pools, irrigation ditches, prairie potholes, and playas and can tolerate an unusually wide range of alkalinity, turbidity, and salinity compared with other Branchinecta species (Aguilar et al. 2017). It is widespread in California’s vernal pools, and may be invading the habitat of the endangered San Diego Fairy Shrimp (Branchinecta sandiegonensis) with which it is capable of hybridizing (Bohonak et al. 2013).
why species was selected
Vernal pools in California are at a fraction of their historical abundance (Holland 1998), resulting from agricultural land and urban expansion. Given the unique ecology of vernal pools, temporal / spatial isolation and geologic requirements, many of the species inhabiting vernal pools are uniquely adapted to conditions of these ephemeral environments. California vernal pool crustaceans display a high degree of endemism and range restriction, and given the declines in vernal pool habitat, many of the endemic vernal pool species found in California are now listed for protection at the state and federal levels.
