Wildlife - Invertebrates, Fish, Threatened & Endangered Species

Birds
Mammals
Reptiles & Amphibians
Invertebrates
Fish
Threatened & Endangered Species

Invertebrates
Most invertebrates are poorly documented on the refuge. However, surveys have been completed for dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata), butterflies (Papilionoidea), mosquitoes (Culicidae), and mussels (Unionacea) in the Wallkill River.

Dr. Allen Barlow, a regionally noted entomologist, in 2000 documented 65 species of dragonfly and damselfly on the Refuge. In fact, the Refuge supports one of the most diverse Odonate communities in the Northeast. Most significant of these include the first state occurrences of midland clubtail (Gomphus fraternus) and skillet clubtail (Gomus ventricosus).

The refuge provides habitat for a significant number of butterfly species. An annual butterfly count has been conducted on the refuge every July since the year 2000 by staff and volunteers from the North Jersey chapter of the North American Butterfly Association. In 2001, a small invasion of the regionally rare Milbert’s Tortoiseshell was noted. The same count also recorded a national high of 1,767 Red Admirals. To date, 61 species of butterflies have been recorded on the counts and a total of 77 species have been recorded on the refuge throughout the years. In 2008, a species that had been thought to be extirpated from the refuge, the Bronze Copper, was rediscovered. See the Refuge butterfly list and butterfly photo gallery.

Annual refuge surveys of mosquitoes were initiated in response to community concerns with the threat of West Nile virus. The most common species of mosquitoes are Aedes vexans, Ochlerotatus sticiticus, O. canadensis, O. stimulans, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, and A. punctipennis. These species are the target of control activities conducted on the Refuge by the Sussex County Mosquito Control Commission. Mosquito surveillance is typically accomplished through larval dip counts. Larvicides are used on a limited basis to control mosquitos during their most concentrated stages.

Four freshwater mussel species were found during surveys for dwarf wedgemussel in stretches of the Wallkill River that pass through the Refuge. These species include eastern elliptio (Elliptio complanata), eastern floater (Pyganodon cataracta), creeper (Strophitus undulatus), and eastern lampmussel (Lampsilis radiata). The eastern lampmussel is a state-listed threatened species and the creeper is a state special concern

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Fish
The Wallkill River itself provides an excellent warmwater fishery for largemouth bass, pickerel, perch, sunfish, and bullheads. While some of the streams that enter the Wallkill River have native brook trout populations, the stocking of brown trout by the State stops near Hamburg, New Jersey, where the Wallkill River changes from a primarily gravelly bottom to a more silty bottom.

The segments of the Wallkill River that run through the Refuge are classified as non-trout waters. However, the upper stretches of several tributaries are considered trout maintenance waters (capable of supporting stocked trout). Three river tributaries (Franklin Pond Creek, Sparta Glen Brook, and a tributary to the Wallkill in Ogdensburg) support naturally reproducing populations of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Franklin Pond Creek also supports reproducing brown trout (Salmo trutta).

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Federal Threatened and Endangered Species
The Refuge provides habitat for 73 types of vertebrate and invertebrate wildlife that are listed as endangered, threatened, special concern, or priority species.

Wallkill River Refuge is one of only two National Wildlife Refuges in which the Federal threatened bog turtle is known to occur. Further, bog turtle populations and potential habitats exist within the Refuge's acquisition boundary that are hydrologically and ecologically connected to those within the current Refuge (Sciascia and Tesauro 1997). Bog turtles have suffered a 50 percent decline in range and numbers during the last 20 years (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001). The Refuge preserves open-canopy wetlands that have a mosaic of micro-habitats, including dry pockets, saturated areas, and periodically flooded areas that this species requires. One of the highest priorities in Refuge operations is preservation, enhancement, restoration and management of bog turtle habit and research and monitoring of bog turtle populations. In fact, Wallkill River Refuge could be an anchor point for bog turtle recovery in the Northeast.

Potential habitat exists in the Wallkill River for the Federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon). The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program conducted surveys for this species in segments of the river running through the Refuge in 1999 (USFWS 2001) and 2001. These surveys did not detect dwarf wedgemussels or their shells. However, numerous stretches of suitable habitat were found consisting of sandy substrate or sand patches, little to no silt, and slow to moderate current. Additionally, the mussel's host fish, the tessellated darter (Etheostoma olmstedi), occurs in the river. Further, four freshwater mussel species that are often associated with dwarf wedgemussel occurrences were found. Additional surveys are needed to confirm the presence or absence of this species on the refuge.

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