Florida Cave Amphipod
Crangonyx grandimanus Bousfield, 1963

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Distribution

Range

Known from 16 counties in Florida in the Florida Lime Sinks karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida

Counties

Florida

Alachua, Citrus, Dade, Gilchrist, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Marion, Marion Co. (FL), Pasco, Pinellas, Suwannee, Wakulla

Karst regions

Florida Lime Sinks

Genetics

Molecular resources

13 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 13 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

CMNC 1982-0308 · Canadian Museum of Nature

Paratype

CMNC 1992-0101 · Canadian Museum of Nature

Topotype ×2

Yale Peabody Museum

Collections holding material

67 cataloged lots in 4 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.

Download all 67 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

VU Vulnerable D2

Assessed in 1996.

NatureServe

G2G3 Imperiled to Vulnerable

Global rank last reviewed 3 June 2026.

Subnational ranks

Florida

S2S3 Imperiled to Vulnerable

Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

Z4TW

GBIF

2217967

ITIS

95092

iNaturalist

98599

NCBI Taxonomy

2072710

References

• Bousfield, E.L. 1963. New fresh-water amphipod crustaceans from Florida. Natural History Papers of the National Museum of Canada 18: 1–9.
• Cannizzaro, A.G., Balding, D., Lazo-Wasem, E.A. & Sawicki, T.R. 2020. A new species rises from beneath Florida: molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal cryptic diversity among the metapopulation of Crangonyx hobbsi Shoemaker, 1941 (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae). Organisms Diversity & Evolution 20: 387–404. doi:10.1007/s13127-020-00433-4
• Culver, D.C. & Hobbs, III, H.H. 2002. Patterns of species richness in the Florida stygobitic fauna. Hydrogeology and Biology of Post-Palaeozoic Carbonate Aquifers. Proceedings of the Symposium Karst Frontiers: Florida and Related Environments: 60–63. https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SP7-Florida-PostPaleozoic-carbonate-aquifers.pdf. details
• Franz, R. 1992h. Miami Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Leconticambarus) milleri Hobbs. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 189–191. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992n. Coastal Lowland Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) leitheuseri Franz and Hobbs. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 201–202. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992a. Florida Cave Amphipod Crangonyx grandimanus Bousfield. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 168–169. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726. details
• Morris, T.L. 2006. A biological inventory of aquifer caves in Florida with special emphasis on troglobitic crustaceans and salamanders. Final report S0057 to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• Morris, T. & Butt, P.L. 1996. Status and distribution of the Florida Cave Shrimp (Palaemonetes cummingi) and other species in Herzog Cave, Alachua County, FL.; May, 1996 survey. Report prepared for Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 15 pp.
• Poucher, S. 2022. Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 196 pp. ISBN 9780000000000.
• Sawicki, T. 2013. Morphological and molecular analysis of Crangonyx grandimanus and C. hobbsi (Amphipoda) as factors for the study of the biological interconnectedness of caves within the Floridan Aquifer. North Florida Springs Alliance News 2: 5–6. https://floridadiveconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/NFSA-Newsletter-vol-2-No-2.pdf. details
• Sisco, J.M. & Sawicki, T.R. 2023. Molecular and morphological analyses reveal a new hypogean species of amphipod in the genus Crangonyx Bate, 1859 (Crustacea: Crangonyctidae) within the floridanus species complex, from Suwannee County, Florida. Journal of Natural History 57: 21–24. doi:10.1080/00222933.2023.2247155
• Walsh, S.J. 2001. Freshwater macrofauna of Florida karst habitats. Proceedings of the 2001 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01–4011: 78–88. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/101/. details
• Zhang, J. & Holsinger, J.R. 2003. Systematics of the freshwater amphipod genus Crangonyx (Crangonyctidae) in North America. Virginia Museum of Natural History Memior 6: 1–274.

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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