Quiero saber acerca de...

30714

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
maintain connectivity of streams with the floodplain, allowing the exchange of nutrients and sediment for maintenance of the fishs habitat, food availability, and ample oxygenated flow for spawning and nesting habitat.
3 Water quality including, but not limited to, conductivity, hardness, turbidity, temperature, pH, ammonia, heavy metals, and chemical constituents necessary to sustain
natural physiological processes for normal behavior, growth, and viability of all life stages.
4 Aquatic macroinvertebrate prey items, which are typically dominated by larval midges, mayflies, caddisflies, dragonflies, and beetle larvae.
We derive the specific physical or biological features essential to the conservation of Neuse River waterdog from studies of this species habitat,
ecology, and life history as described above. The primary habitat elements that influence resiliency of both species include water quality, water quantity, substrate, and habitat connectivity.
Additional information can be found in the SSA report Service 2021b available on http www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWSR4ES20180092.
The Neuse River waterdogs individual needs are summarized below in Table 4.

TABLE 4LIFE HISTORY AND RESOURCE NEEDS OF THE NEUSE RIVER WATERDOG
Resources and/or circumstances needed for individuals to complete each life stage
Life stage
Resource function BFSD

Egg/EmbryoMayJune

Clean, flowing water with moderate current 1050 cm/sec Sexually mature males and females 6 years old Appropriate spawning temperatures 822 C
Nest sites large flat rocks with gravel bottoms Adequate flow for oxygenation 79 ppm DO

B

Hatchlinglate summer

Clean, non-turbid, flowing water 1050 cm/sec
Adequate food availability Clean, flowing water 1050 cm/sec
Adequate food availability opportunistic feeding; primarily invertebrates Clean, flowing water 1050 cm/sec
Adequate food availability primarily invertebrates Cover large rocks/boulders, outcrops, burrows for retreat areas Clean, flowing water deeper than 100 cm with flows 1050
cm/sec.
Streams >15m wide High dissolved oxygen 79 ppm Appropriate substrate hard clay bottom with leaf litter, gravel, cobble Little to no siltation Adequate food availability aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates Cover large rocks/boulders, outcrops, burrows for retreat areas
B, S

Post-hatchling Larvae12
inches long.
JuvenilesUp to 5.56.5 years;
24 inches long.

Adults630+ years59
inches long.

Information source Pudney et al. 1985, p. 54.
Cooper and Ashton 1985, p.
5.
Braswell and Ashton 1985, p. 21.
Ashton 1985, p. 95.
Cooper and Ashton 1985, p.
5.
Ashton 1985, p. 95.

F, S
F, S

Ashton 1985, p. 95.
Braswell 2005, p. 867.

F, S, D

Braswell and Ashton 1985, pp. 13, 22, 28.
Ashton 1985, p. 95.
Braswell 2005, p. 868.

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES2

B = Breeding, F = Feeding, S = Sheltering, D = Dispersal.

We have determined that the following physical or biological features are essential to the conservation of Neuse River waterdog:
1 Suitable substrates and connected instream habitats, characterized by geomorphically stable stream channels and banks i.e., channels that maintain lateral dimensions, longitudinal profiles, and sinuosity patterns over time without an aggrading or degrading bed elevation with habitats that support a diversity of native aquatic fauna such as stable riffle-run-pool habitats that provide flow refuges consisting of siltfree gravel, small cobble, coarse sand, and leaf litter substrates as well as abundant cover and burrows used for nesting.
2 Adequate flows, or a hydrologic flow regime which includes the severity, frequency, duration, and seasonality of discharge over time, necessary to maintain instream habitats
VerDate Sep<11>2014

19:39 Jun 08, 2021

Jkt 253001

where the species is found and to maintain connectivity of streams with the floodplain, allowing the exchange of nutrients and sediment for maintenance of the waterdogs habitat, food availability, and ample oxygenated flow for spawning and nesting habitat.
3 Water quality including, but not limited to, conductivity, hardness, turbidity, temperature, pH, ammonia, heavy metals, and chemical constituents necessary to sustain natural physiological processes for normal behavior, growth, and viability of all life stages.
4 Invertebrate and fish prey items, which are typically hellgrammites, crayfish, mayflies, earthworms, snails, beetles, centipedes, slugs, and small fish.
Special Management Considerations or Protection When designating critical habitat, we assess whether the specific areas within
PO 00000

Frm 00028

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4700

the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of listing contain features which are essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection. The features essential to the conservation of the Carolina madtom and Neuse River waterdog may require special management considerations or protections to reduce the following threats: 1 Urbanization of the landscape, including but not limited to land conversion for urban and commercial use, infrastructure roads, bridges, utilities, and urban water uses water supply reservoirs, wastewater treatment, etc.; 2 nutrient pollution and sedimentation from agricultural activities that impact water quantity and quality; 3 significant alteration of water quality; 4 improper forest management or clearcuts in riparian areas; 5 culvert and pipe installation
E:FRFM09JNR2.SGM

09JNR2