WILLIAM C. AUSTIN, Marine Ecology Centre & Khoyatan Marine Laboratory

Most of our knowledge and focus on rare and endangered species in British Columbia is on the large furry or feathery animals and on leafy plants.

We are just beginning to recognize that some local marine invertebrates and seaweeds may be at risk.

Approximately 50 species of rarely seen invertebrates were identified for the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre. Some of these are at the edge of their range or in special habitats in British Columbia, and are common elsewhere. Others are known from only 1 or 2 sites in the Province and are rare or apparently absent in other parts of the world seas. They occur in a variety of habitats ranging from intertidal lagoons, to the depths of our fjords, and beyond to the offshore hydrothermal vents.

The images included here were shown in an oral presentation of this paper at The Biology and Management of Species and Habitats at Risk Conference in Kamloops, BC. February 15-19, 1999. These images may be used to supplement the written version of this presention pp. 57-66 in: Darling, L.M. (ed.). 2000. At Risk: Proceedings of a Conference on the Biology and Management of Species and Habitats At Risk. University College of the Cariboo, Kamloops, BC. and Ministry of ENvironment, Lands and Parks.

Please note that this is an initial working list of apparently rare species in British Columbia. Some may turn out to be more common than we thought. Certainly a number of other species could have been selected based on rarity of recorded occurrences. We welcome your contributions.

Click here to see the table listing all the species, their common names, records of occurrences and notes [larger images and descriptions can be accessed by clicking on names in the table]