List of endangered invertebrates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In July 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed 1163 endangered invertebrate species.[1] Of all evaluated invertebrate species, 6.4% were listed as endangered. The IUCN also lists 36 invertebrate subspecies as endangered.
- Extinct in the wild (EW): 15 species
- Critically endangered (CR): 987 species
- Endangered (EN): 1,163 species
- Vulnerable (VU): 2,178 species
- Near threatened (NT, LR/cd): 1,105 species
- Least concern (LC): 6,919 species
- Data deficient (DD): 5,278 species
No subpopulations of invertebrates have been evaluated by the IUCN.
For a species to be considered endangered by the IUCN it must meet certain quantitative criteria which are designed to classify taxa facing "a very high risk of extinction". An even higher risk is faced by critically endangered species, which meet the quantitative criteria for endangered species. Critically endangered invertebrates are listed separately. There are 2150 invertebrate species which are endangered or critically endangered.
Additionally 5278 invertebrate species (29% of those evaluated) are listed as data deficient, meaning there is insufficient information for a full assessment of conservation status. As these species typically have small distributions and/or populations, they are intrinsically likely to be threatened, according to the IUCN.[2] While the category of data deficient indicates that no assessment of extinction risk has been made for the taxa, the IUCN notes that it may be appropriate to give them "the same degree of attention as threatened taxa, at least until their status can be assessed".[3]
This is a complete list of endangered invertebrate species and subspecies as evaluated by the IUCN.