Mammoth Cave Shrimp
Palaemonias ganteri Hay, 1901
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Malacostraca |
| Order | Decapoda |
| Family | Atyidae |
| Genus | Palaemonias |
| Species | Palaemonias ganteri Hay, 1901 |
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
- Maximum length
- 20 mm
Distribution
Type locality
Mammoth Cave, Edmonson Co. KY
Range
Known from one county in Kentucky in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Kentucky
Counties
- Kentucky
- Edmonson
Karst regions
Interior Low Plateau
Specimens
Type material
- Syntype
- 2014-20694 · Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris
- Type
- USNM 27000 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 6 |
| Field Museum of Natural History | 2 |
| Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris | 2 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Center | 1 |
11 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 11 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
IUCN Red List
VU Vulnerable B1ab(iii)
Assessed in 2013.
NatureServe
G1 Critically Imperiled
Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.
Subnational ranks
- Kentucky
- S1 Critically Imperiled
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
Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, listed in 1983.
Federal: Endangered
Threats
- Oil & Gas Drilling
- Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
- Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
- Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
Other resources
References
- Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
- Chace & F.A. Jr. 1954. Two new subterranean shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) from Florida and the West Indies, with a revised key to the American species. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 44: 318–324. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24533251. details
- Cooper, J.E. 1975. Ecological and behavioral studies in Shelta Cave, Alabama, with emphasis on decapod crustaceans. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 364 pp.
- Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 1974. Distribution and ecology of troglobitic shrimp of the genus Palaemonias (Decapoda; Atyidae). ASB Bulletin 21: 48.
- Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 2011. Observations on the biology of the endangered stygobiotic shrimp Palaemonias alabamae, with notes on P. ganteri (Decapoda: Atyidae). Subterranean Biology 8: 9–20.
- Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
- Hay, W.P. 1901. Two new subterranean crustaceans from the United States. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 14: 179–180. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2339123. details
- Hay, W.P. 1902b. Observations on the crustacean fauna of the region about Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25: 223–236. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.25-1285.223
- Hobbs, H.H. Jr., Hobbs, H.H. III & Daniel, M.A. 1977. A review of the troglobitic decapod crustaceans of the Americas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 244: 1–183.
- Lewis, J.J. 1988. The systematics, zoogeography and life history of the troglobitic isopods of the Interior Plateaus of the eastern United States. University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. 281 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 pp.
- McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
- Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
- Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025b. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
- Pearson, W.D. & Boston, C.H., Jr. 1995. Distribution and status of the northern cavefish, Amblyopsis spelaea. Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program,, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 99 pp.
This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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