A QUARTER of freshwater creatures are at a high risk of extinction, a new study warns.

Of the groups studied, crabs, crayfish and shrimps face the greatest danger of extinction, with 30 per cent under threat.

These were followed by 26 per cent of freshwater fish species and 16 per cent of dragonflies and damselflies.

The global assessment of 23,496 freshwater animals on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species was published in the journal Nature.

It found that 24 per cent — at least 4,294 of the species looked at — were at a high risk of extinction.

Lead author Catherine Sayer said: “Lack of data on freshwater biodiversity can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction.

“Freshwater landscapes are home to 10 per cent of all known species on Earth and key for billions of people’s safe drinking water, livelihoods, flood control and climate change mitigation, and must be protected for nature and people alike.”

In response to the study, Dr Matthew Gollock of the Zoological Society of London said: “This report really drives home just how under threat freshwater species are globally as a result of human activities.

“The good news is it’s not too late for us to tackle threats such as habitat loss, pollution and invasive species, to ensure our rivers and lakes are in good condition for the species that call them home.”

The IUCN study found more than half of the threatened species were being affected by pollution, largely from agriculture and forestry, with the greatest number in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, Lake Titicaca in South America, Sri Lanka’s wet zone and the Western Ghats of India.