2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan

Appendix 3 Table 3-21 Marine Species

Chapter 3 North Carolina Species

Table 3-21 MARINE SPECIES

2025 WAP Revision

Distinct Population Unit

2025

Common Name

Scientific Name

Order

Family

Critical Habitat Designation

FISH

None.

X

Shortnose Sturgeon

Acipenser brevirostrum

Acipenseriformes Acipenseridae

E

E

VH V

I

X

X

Includes NC rivers: Roanoke, Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, Cape Fear, Northeast Cape Fear, Waccamaw, Pee Dee Florida southwestern coastal waters between Charlotte Harbor and Florida Bay

Carolina DPS

X

Atlantic Sturgeon

Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus

Acipenseriformes Acipenseridae

E

E

H

V

II

X

X

Atlantic Ocean

X

Smalltooth Sawfish

Pristis pectinata

Pristiformes

Pristidae

E

VH CE

I

X

MAMMALS

None

Sei Whale Blue Whale Fin Whale

Balaenoptera borealis Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera physalus

Cetacea Cetacea Cetacea

Balaenopteridae Balaenopteridae Balaenopteridae

E E E

E

I I I

X X X

X X X

None

X X

E E

M E M V

None

Includes marine open water habitat off the Southeast U.S. coast (Unit 2).

X

North Atlantic Right Whale

Eubalaena glacialis

Cetacea

Balaenidae

E

E

VH CE

I

X

X

None

X X

Sperm Whale

Physeter catodon [microcephalus]

Cetacea Sirenia

Physeteridae Trichechidae

E T

E T

V V

I I

X

X

Coastal Florida inshore and near shore waters

West Indian Manatee

Trichechus manatus

REPTILES

Includes nearshore reproductive habitat, winter area, breeding areas, constricted migratory corridors, and/or Sargassum habitat. Marine critical habitat in nearshore waters (from the mean high water line to 20 meters depth) off the US Atlantic coast, including NC

South Atlantic Ocean DPS

X

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Caretta caretta

Testudines

Cheloniidae

T

T

H

V

I

X

X

N. Atlantic DPS S. Atlantic DPS

X

Green Sea Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Testudines

Cheloniidae

T

T

H

E

I

X

X

X X X X

Leatherback Sea Turtle Hawksbill Sea Turtle Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Diamondback Terrapin

Dermochelys coriacea

Testudines Testudines Testudines Testudines

Dermochelyidae

E E E

E E E

VH V VH CE VH CE

I I I

X

X X X

US Virgin Island coastal waters Puerto Rico coastal waters

Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata

Cheloniidae Cheloniidae

None None

Lepidochelys kempii Malaclemys terrapin

X

Emydidae

At-Risk

H

V

II

OTHER MARINE/PELAGIC SPECIES

E T T

VH CE VH CE

Scalloped Hammerhead Oceanic Whitetip Shark

Carcharhiniformes Sphyrnidae Carcharhiniformes Carcharhinidae

Sphyrna lewini

II II ii

Carcharhinus longimanus

Giant Mantaray

Mobula birostris

Rajiformes

Mobulidae

H

E

Federal ESA Protection Status - E = Endangered - T = Threatened - At-Risk (under review)

*North Carolina Protection Status - E = Endangered - T = Threatened - SC = Special Concern - Blank indicates no NC lsting

SEAFWA Regional SGCN - VH = Very High - H = High - M = Moderate

IUCN Red List Category - CE = Critically Endangered - E = Endangered - T = Threatened - NT = Near Threatened - V = Vulnerable

CITES Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction and provides the greatest level of protection, including a prohibition on commercial trade.

Appendix II includes species that are not currently threatened with extinction, but may become so without trade controls. Regulated trade is allowed if the exporting country issues a permit based on findings that the specimens were legally acquired and the trade will not be detrimental to the survival of the species or its role in the ecosystem.

Appendix III includes species for which a country has asked other CITES Parties to help control international trade. Trade in Appendix III species is regulated using CITES export permits (issued by the country that listed the species in Appendix III) and certificates of origin (issued by all other countries). NOAA Fisheries, Threatened and Endangered Species List for North Carolina https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/consultations/threatened-and-endangered-species-list-north-carolina

USFWS, Listed U.S. Species by Taxonomic Group - All Animals https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species

2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan

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