Two new Branchinecta (Crustacea : Anostraca) from the southwestern United States

We describe two new narrow range endemic species of Branchinecta from the A merican Southwest; one occurs north of the Grand Canyon on the Kaibab Plate au in Arizona and the other inhabits vernal pools in the Great Central Vall ey of California. Living as it does in pools on remote National Forest land , the Kaibab fairy shrimp is not in any danger of major habitat loss due to human activities. However, the midvalley fairy shrimp lives in the threate ned California vernal pool ecosystem located in one of the most human impac ted areas of California. Thus, given the limited number of pools it is know n to occupy, die midvalley fairy shrimp is in need of evaluation by conserv ation agencies to determine if its survival is threatened and it is ill nee d of protection.