APPENDIX B

NORTHEAST COASTAL AREAS STUDY
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND-NEW YORK
COASTAL SPECIES OF SPECIAL EMPHASIS

The following species have been identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Estuary Program as being of national or regional significance and of special management concern in the coastal region of southern New England (MA, RI and CT) and New York. Many are species whose populations have declined or are presently declining from historical levels of abundance in the region and/or are especially vulnerable to habitat loss and degradation, disturbance, competition with exotic or nuisance species, overexploitation or environmental contaminants. Some groups, e.g. shellfish and certain finfish, while not especially rare or declining, are of considerable ecological, commercial or recreational importance in the region. The primary purposes of these species lists are to establish a base for identifying habitats in need of protection in the project area and to develop ecoregional strategies for the long-term protection, conservation, and monitoring of both species and habitats.

I. FINFISH: (Spawning areas, nursery and feeding grounds, migration pathways)

Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) E
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus)
American shad (Alosa sapidissima)
Striped bass (Morone saxatilis)
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)
Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)
Summer flounder, fluke (Paralichthys dentatus)
Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis)
Blackfish, Tautog (Tautoga onitis)
Scup or Porgy (Stenotomus chrysops)
Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis)
Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax)
Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus)
American sandlance (Ammodytes americanus)
American eel (Anguilla rostrata)
Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli)
Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia)

E = U.S. Endangered Species
T = U.S. Threatened Species
1, 2 = Category 1 or 2 Candidate Species

II. MARINE/ESTUARINE SHELLFISH: (Major shellfish beds; horseshoe crab spawning areas)

American lobster (Homarus americanus)
Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)
Horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus)
American oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
Hard-shelled clam or Quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria)
Soft-shelled clam (Mya arenaria)
Ocean quahog (Arctica islandica)
Surf clam (Spisula solidissima)
Bay scallop (Aequipecten irradians)

III. REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS: (Nesting, breeding, nursery and feeding areas)

Northern diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys t. terrapin) 2

Sea Turtles: (Juvenile concentration areas)
Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) T
Green (Chelonia mydas) T
Atlantic or Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) E
Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) E

Tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)
Blue-spotted salamander (Ambystoma laterale)

IV. BIRDS:

A. Federally Listed/proposed/candidate species and Fish and Wildlife Service species of special management concern:
Roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) E
Gull-billed tern (Sterna nilotica)
Piping plover (Charadrius melodus) T
Northern harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) E
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) E,T
Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus)
American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
Least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)
Black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis)
Seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus)
Common barn owl (Tyto alba)

B. Migrants: (Wintering concentrations and staging areas; resident breeding populations)
Common loon (Gavia immer)
Red-throated loon (Gavia stellata)
Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena)
Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
Atlantic brant (Branta bernicla)
Northern pintail (Anas acuta)
American wigeon (Anas americana)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
American black duck (Anas rubripes)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
Greater scaup (Aythya marila)
Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis)
Harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
Common eider (Somateria mollissima)
Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
Scoters (Melanitta fusca, M. nigra and M. perspicillata)
Hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator)
Clapper rail (Rallus longirostris)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)

C. Nesting Colonial Waterbirds:
Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Little blue heron (Egretta caerulea)
Tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor)
Great egret (Casmerodius albus)
Snowy egret (Egretta thula)
Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
Green-backed heron (Butorides striatus)
Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
Laughing gull (Larus atricilla)
Least tern (Sterna antillarum)
Common tern (Sterna hirundo)
Black skimmer (Rynchops niger)

D. Nuisance Species: (Species of particular management concern because of impacts on other species)
Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus)

V. MAMMALS

A. Marine Mammals: (Whale concentration and migration areas; seal pupping and hauling out sites)
Whales:
Minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
Fin (Balaenoptera physalus) E
Humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) E
Northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) E

Gray seal (Halichoerus grypus)
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)

B. Terrestrial Mammals: (Island endemics-Some of dubious taxonomic status)
Martha's Vineyard short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda alonga) 2
Nantucket short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda compacta) 2
Small-footed myotis (Myotis leibii) 2
Monomoy white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus ammodytes) 2
Martha's Vineyard white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus fuscus) 2
Block Island meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus provectus) 2
Beach or Muskeget Island vole (Microtus breweri) 2

VI. INVERTEBRATES:

American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) E
Northeastern beach tiger beetle (Cincindela d. dorsalis) T
Puritan tiger beetle (Cincindela puritana) T
Decodon borer moth (Papaipema sulphurata) 2
Banded bog skimmer dragonfly (Williamsonia lintneri) 2
Lemmer's noctuid moth (Lithophane lemmeri) 2
Regal fritillary butterfly (Speyeria idalia) 2
Barrens bluet damselfly (Enallagma recurvatum)
Lateral bluet damselfly (Enallagma laterale)
Hessel's hairstreak (Mitouri hesseli)
Barrens buckmoth (Hemileuca maia)
Dwarf wedge mussel (Alasmidonta heterodon) E

VII. PLANTS:

A. Federally Listed:
Sandplain gerardia (Agalinis acuta) E

B. Federal Candidates:
Sea-beach pigweed (Amaranthus pumilis) 2
Nantucket serviceberry (Amelanchier nantucketensis) 2
Variable sedge (Carex polymorpha) 2
Spreading Tick-trefoil (Desmodium humifusum) 2
New England boneset (Eupatorium leucolepis var. novae-angliae) 2
Pine Barrens boneset (Eupatorium resinosum) 2
New England blazing-star (Liatris borealis) 2
Graves' beach plum (Prunus maritima var. gravesii) 2
Chaffseed (Schwalbea americana) 1
Long's bulrush (Scirpus longii) 2

C. Regional Species of Special Concern:
Annual peanut-grass (Amphicarpum purshii)
Eastern silvery aster (Aster concolor)
Bicknell's hawthorn (Crataegus bicknellii)
Sessile-leaved tick-trefoil (Desmodium sessilifolium)
Saltpond grass (Diplachne maritima)
Three-angled spike-sedge (Eleocharis tricostata)
Parker's pipewort (Eriocaulon parkeri)
Bushy rockrose (Helianthemum dumosum)
Creeping St. John's-wort (Hypericum adpressum)
Round-fruited false-loosestrife (Ludwigia sphaerocarpa)
Climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum)
Sea-beach knotweed (Polygonum glaucum)
Pondshore knotweed (Polygonum puritanorum)
Bald rush (Psilocarya scirpoides)
Torrey's mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum torrei)
Inundated horned-rush (Rhynchospora inundata)
Torrey's beak-rush (Rhynchospora torreyana)
Plymouth gentian (Sabatia kennedyana)
Quill-leaved arrowhead (Sagittaria teres)
Untubercled bulrush (Scirpus etuberculatus)
Coast violet (Viola brittoniana)

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