The picture-wing fly, anchialine pool shrimp and Stenogyne cranwelliae exist in relative obscurity, and unless special action is taken, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says, they could cease to exist altogether.

The fly, shrimp and plant are among 15 species on Hawaii island that are in danger of becoming extinct in the foreseeable future, according to the agency, which is proposing that they be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The agency is soliciting information from the scientific community and the public until Dec. 17 to help make a final determination.

The 15 species, which include 13 plants, are spread across 10 different ecosystems on the island.

The proposal stems from a court-approved work plan that resolves a series of lawsuits by the Center for Biological Diversity seeking initial or final decisions on whether to add about 757 plants and animals to the endangered list by 2018.

The agency said that the intent of the agreement "is to significantly reduce litigation-driven workloads and allow the agency to focus its resources on the species most in need of the ESA’s protections over the next five years."

According to the agency, the 15 species proposed for EPA protection are being threatened by a host of natural and non-natural factors, including:

» Habitat destruction and modification caused by invasive, non-native plants, feral pigs, sheep and goats, and agricultural and urban development.

» Predation by introduced species.

» Climate change that has intensified existing natural threats such as fire, hurricanes, landslides and flooding.

The agency says current regulation is inadequate to protect the species.

Biologists have identified habitat that is essential to one of the 15 proposed species — Bidens micrantha ssp. ctenophylla — as well as two previously listed plant species that do not already have designated "critical habitat" on the island.

The proposed habitat includes seven units totaling 18,766 acres of occupied and unoccupied habitat on federal, state and private lands. More than half of the area being proposed as critical habitat is already so designated for 42 plants and the Blackburn’s sphynx moth.

The designation of a critical habitat allows federal agencies to identify — and thus avoid or minimize — actions that may affect protected species within the area.

Critical habitats for the other 14 species has not yet been determined.