ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service today for failing to designate critical habitat in Florida and other areas for the threatened queen conch. This iconic and visually striking sea snail is vulnerable to habitat degradation from pollution, dredging and climate change.

In the United States and its territories, queen conchs are found off the coasts of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida. The animal was designated as federally threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2024, yet the Fisheries Service has failed to finalize legally required critical habitat protection.

“The Fisheries Service’s failure to protect the coral reefs and other places where the queen conch lives is driving this iconic snail closer to extinction,” said Alex Muir, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Without this crucial protection, we’ll have to watch pollution, dredging and climate change continue to threaten these charming marine snails. What’s so frustrating is that this is preventable. If federal officials move quickly to shield their habitat, it’d give these conchs a fighting chance as they struggle to survive devastating overharvesting.”

As the Fisheries Service delays habitat protection, current and proposed dredging is a direct threat to the queen conch. For example, an ongoing sand bypass project in Port Everglades, Florida, along with a massive proposal to expand the port, could further threaten a documented herd of queen conch and the surrounding coral reef with sediment and contaminants.

The queen conch is an herbivorous marine snail known for its large, spiral-shaped shell with a striking pink interior. The conch moves by hopping and retracts its soft body into its shell to avoid predators. The conch’s vision is more advanced than other mollusk species, with highly developed eyes fixed atop two independently mobile stalks that will peek out from within their shells.

“The queen conch is an icon across its range, from the Conch Republic in the Florida Keys to the azure waters of the Virgin Islands,” said Muir. “The conch’s continued decline harms coastal cultures as much as it harms the marine ecosystems where they live. I’m hopeful this lawsuit will force the Fisheries Service to do its job and keep the queen conch from going extinct on its watch.”

Designation of critical habitat is an important step in the conch’s recovery. A Center study found that plants and animals with federally protected critical habitat are more than twice as likely to move toward recovery than species without it. The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to ensure any activities they authorize do not destroy or damage areas essential for the survival of endangered animals and plants.

Since President Trump took office again, the administration has gutted environmental laws and deprioritized protecting endangered species. The second Trump administration has not finalized protection of a single species under the Endangered Species Act. This is the longest any administration has gone without listing a species since the law was enacted in 1973.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.