American Fisheries Society (AFS)

USGS' and Loyola University New Orleans' innovative research techniques played a role in the decision to downlist the Okaloosa Darter, a freshwater fish endemic to northwest Florida, from Endangered to Threatened in 2011, and the removal of the fish from the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2023.

This website provides access to the list of imperiled freshwater and diadromous fishes of North America as determined by the 2008 American Fisheries Society (AFS) Endangered Species Committee (ESC) on Fishes.

This website provides access to the list of freshwater gastropods (snails) in Canada and the United States as determined by the 2013 American Fisheries Society (AFS) Endangered Species Committee (ESC) on freshwater gastropods.

This website provides access to the list of crayfish in Canada and the United States as determined by the 2007 American Fisheries Society (AFS) Endangered Species Committee (ESC) on Crayfishes.

The decline of freshwater animals has resulted in an increase in the number of imperiled species and extinctions. USGS scientists use genetics to determine if these species truly are gone forever.