Hobbies And Interests
Mammals
The West Indian Manatee encompasses the subspecies Florida manatee and Antillean manatee. It is found in the Gulf of Mexico, which borders Mississippi in the south, and is considered endangered. The finback whale and the humpback whale are baleen-type whales whose habitat includes the Gulf of Mexico. Both species are considered endangered. The Indiana Bat, a small brown bat found throughout the central United States, is considered endangered. The Louisiana Black Bear, a threatened species, is found in Louisiana and Mississippi; it is differentiated from other subspecies of black bear by its narrower skull.
Reptiles
The green, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles are found in the Gulf of Mexico. All are on the endangered species list. Endangered freshwater species include the ringed map turtle and the yellow-blotched map turtle. Female ringed map turtle sgrow to 18 inches, while female yellow-blotched map turtles grow to 20 inches.
Amphibians
The Mississippi gopher frog is a small frog that lives only on the lower Mississippi River. It is considered endangered.
Fish
The Bayou darter is a small fish that lives only in Bayou Pierre in Mississippi. It is considered threatened. The pallid and gulf sturgeons are both threatened subspecies of the sturgeon that live in the Gulf of Mexico and some of the rivers that feed into it, such as the Pascagoula.
Birds
The Mississippi sandhill crane is an endangered, large semi-aquatic bird that resembles a great blue heron without any lighter patches. The red-cockaded woodpecker is endangered; it is small, black and white, and lives in wooded habitats.
Invertebrates
Black clubshell, ovate clubshell, southern clubshell, southern combshell, flat pigtoe, fat pocketbook and the stirrupshell are all bivalve mussels that live in freshwater habitats; all are considered endangered. The Alabama heelsplitter, Alabama moccasinshell and the orangenacre mucket are also bivalve freshwater mussels; these three are considered endangered.