Removal of Johnson's Seagrass From the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species

We, NMFS, propose to remove Johnson's seagrass (Halophila johnsonii) from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species. To correspond with this action, we are also proposing to remove the critical habitat designation for Johnson's seagrass. We propose these actions based on newly obtained genetic data that demonstrate that Johnson's seagrass is not a unique taxon but rather a clone of an Indo-Pacific species, Halophila ovalis