European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

This species is widespread in Europe, being most common in northern countries and becoming rarer in southern countries, where it is sometimes considered threatened. As the species is not facing threats across its entire range it is assessed as Least Concern  at the European level and at the level of the 27 Member States of the European Union.

Euglesa lilljeborgii has a boreo-alpine distribution. Fauna Europaea (Bank et al. 2006) report the species from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark (mainland) (not mapped), Faroe Islands (Denmark) (not mapped), Finland, Estonia (not mapped), Latvia (not mapped), Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Ireland (Eire), Great Britain (UK), Northern Ireland (UK), France (mainland), Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy (mainland), Spain (mainland) and Ukraine.

Globally, this species has a holarctic range occurring principally in northern latitudes and in upland areas in more southerly countries.

There is no population trend data available for this species, however threats to wetlands and freshwater ecosystems suggest an overall population decline.

This is a boreal relict species found mostly in upland areas from small tarns to very large lakes and lochs, but also occasionally in the sheltered margins of swift-flowing rivers and streams (Killeen et al. 2004). This species is tolerant of a wide alkalinity range but occurs more often in soft water. The species lives in a wide range of sediment types but unlike most other Sphaerid species it also occurs commonly in coarser sandy or gritty substrates.

In northern countries this species is not viewed as being threatened, however towards the southern limits, threats include pollution of its habitats through eutrophication or other chemical sources, alteration of water courses, impounding, and changes to flow regimes. The species' habitat in lakes and tarns is threatened by conversion of the water bodies into reservoirs, drainage, pollution from agriculture, forestry and domestic sources, angling activities, and invasive species (e.g. Zebra Mussels Dreissena polymorpha). Climate change is presumably going to have an important impact on this species due to habitat shifting and extreme temperatures.

There is no use or trade information available for this species.

The species is not considered threatened, except towards the southerly limits of the range; in the United Kingdom it is considered to be borderline for Near Threatened (NT), in Germany it is Category 2, in Spain it is Vulnerable (VU B1ab(iii)) (Verdú and Galante 2009). There is little recent survey data for this species, as like most Euglesa species it is difficult to identify, however, survey data will be required from southern parts of range to determine future trends in the status of this species.