''Stygobromus kenki'' is a rare species of

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

, a crustacean. Its common names include Kenk's amphipod, Rock Creek groundwater amphipod, and Rock Creek stygobromid.Integrated Taxonomic Information System
/ref> This species lives only in Washington, D.C., the Calvert Formation in Virginia and

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

, in the United States. It can be found only in the Potomac River

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

.USFWS Species Assessment and Listing Priority Assignment Form
/ref> Its entire range is less than 40 square miles. It has only been found at five sites at springs or seeps in the local waterways.USFWS
Kenk's amphipod (''Stygobromus kenki'') Spotlight Species Action Plan.
/ref> This species is small, the largest female measuring about 5.5 mm in length and the largest male about 3.7 mm. It can only be identified by microscopic examination, which requires that the specimen be killed; therefore, scientists prefer not to attempt identification of these rare amphipods. The species lives in and near water in freshwater habitat. It can be found in detritus and sediment along springs and seeps. The amphipod was first collected in 1967 in Rock Creek Park, where it was discovered by

Roman Kenk Roman Kenk (November 25, 1898 – October 2, 1988) was a Slovenian, later American, zoologist. Life Roman Kenk was born in Ljubljana and baptized ''Roman Marija Kenk''. He received his PhD in zoology at the University of Graz, Austria, in 192 ...

. J. R. Holsinger then named it after him in 1978.Holsinger, J. R. (1978)
Systematics of the subterranean amphipod genus ''Stygobromus'' (Crangonyctidae), Part II: Species of the eastern United States.
Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology Number 266. This species can be found with another endangered amphipod of the same genus, ''

Stygobromus hayi ''Stygobromus hayi'' is a rare species of crustacean known by the common name Hay's Spring amphipod. It is endemic to the District of Columbia in the United States, where it occurs only in Rock Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.Pavek, ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7629358

kenki Kenki (written: 賢希, 堅樹 or 顕貴) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese rugby union player *, Japanese equestrian *, Japanese pirate {{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine ...

Fauna of the Eastern United States Freshwater crustaceans of North America Crustaceans described in 1978 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN