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Candidate and Proposed Species Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Candidate species are those petitioned species that are actively being considered for listing as endangered or threatened under the ESA, as well as those species for which NMFS has initiated an ESA status review that it has announced in the Federal Register. For detailed definitions and explanations, please refer to the April 15, 2004 and October 17, 2006, Federal register notices (69 FR 19975) [pdf], (71 FR 61022) [pdf], which revised the Candidate Species definition.

Proposed species are those candidate species that were found to warrant listing as either threatened or endangered and were officially proposed as such in a Federal Register notice after the completion of a status review and consideration of other protective conservation measures. Public comment is always sought on a proposal to list species under the ESA. NMFS generally has one year after a species is proposed for listing under the ESA to make a final determination whether to list a species as threatened or endangered.

Candidates for Listing (21 candidate "species")  

SpeciesYearFederal Register notice
Fishes
alewife
(Alosa pseudoharengus)		2011 76 FR 67652
cusk
(Brosme brosme)		200772 FR 10710
grouper, Nassau
(Epinephelus striatus)		201277 FR 61559
herring, blueback
(Alosa aestivalis)		201176 FR 67652

herring, Pacific (1 candidate DPS)
(Clupea pallasi)

  • Southeast Alaska
200873 FR 19824

salmon, Chinook (1 candidate ESU)
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

  • Upper Klamath and Trinity Rivers Basin ESU
201176 FR 20302

sawfish (5 candidate species)

  • Anoxyprisitis cuspidata
  • Pristis clavata
  • Pristis microdon
  • Pristis zijsron
  • Pristis pectinata (for non-ESA-listed population(s))
201176 FR 12308
seahorse, dwarf
(Hippocampus zosterae)		201277 FR 26478

shark, great white (1 candidate DPS)
(Carcharodon carcharias)

  • Northeastern Pacific Ocean
201277 FR 59582
shark, scalloped hammerhead
(Sphyrna lewini)		201176 FR 72891

sturgeon (5 candidate species)

  • Acipenser naccarii
  • Acipenser sturio
  • Acipenser sinensis
  • Acipenser mikadoi
  • Huso dauricus
201277 FR 51767
wrasse, humphead
(Cheilinus undulatus)		201378 FR 13614
Marine Invertebrates
conch, queen
(Strombus gigas)		201277 FR 51763

 

Proposed for Listing (66 proposed "species")

SpeciesYear ProposedStatus
Marine Invertebrates
12 coral species (includes proposed reclassification from threatened to endangered for already listed elkhorn and staghorn corals)2012proposed endangered
54 coral species2012proposed threatened

 

Endangered and Threatened Marine Species

 

Updated: February 28, 2013