Thermosphaeroma thermophilum

Thermosphaeroma thermophilum, commonly known as the Socorro isopod or Socorro sowbug, is a crustacean in the family Sphaeromatidae. It was endemic to the thermal water of Sedillo Spring located in Socorro County in the state of New Mexico, United States.

Thermosphaeroma thermophilum
Conservation status
Extinct in the Wild  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Isopoda
Family:	Sphaeromatidae
Genus:	Thermosphaeroma
Species:	T. thermophilum
Binomial name
Thermosphaeroma thermophilum Richardson, 1897

In the isopod's natural habitat the thermal waters ranged in temperature from 26–33 °C (79–91 °F). In 1947, when the spring was diverted to supply the city of Socorro with drinking water, the isopods ended up living in an old water supply pipe that led to a horse trough and two small, old, concrete bathing pools.[1][2] In 1988, the wild population became extinct[3] when a tree root burst the pipe and cut off water flow to the concrete pools.[2] Existing captive populations were bred to restore the isopod community near the spring and they were reintroduced[3] into eight new concrete pools (tanks).[2] As of 2006, captive populations are kept at the Albuquerque Biological Park, the Minnesota Zoo, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Laboratory in Santa Fe, and by the Department of Biology at New Mexico Tech.[4]

T. thermophilum engage in cannibalism.[5] In 1997, researchers found that female T. thermophilum were feeding on vegetation, whereas males were cannibalizing females.[6]