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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaArthropodaCrustaceaMalacostracaDecapodaCambaridaeCambarus

Prickly Cave Crayfish
Cambarus hamulatus (Cope & Packard, 1881)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Cambaridae
Genus Cambarus
Species Cambarus hamulatus (Cope & Packard, 1881)

Synonyms

Oronectes hamulatus Cope & Packard, 1881
Orconectes hamulatus Cope in Cope & Packard, 1881

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Stygobiont
Realm
Aquatic
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Nickajack Cave, Marion Co. TN

Range

Known from two states in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Tennessee

Counties

County-level records have not been compiled for this taxon. Distribution is recorded at state and karst-region level.

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Genetics

Molecular resources

MarkerMoleculeSequences LengthExemplar
COI mitochondrial 19 627-678 bp ON380877.1
12S mitochondrial 13 330-330 bp DQ411723.1
16S mitochondrial 12 484-485 bp DQ411745.1
H3 nuclear 7 356-356 bp DQ411800.1
other unknown 4 834-834 bp DQ411789.1
28S nuclear 3 427-784 bp ON383892.1

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

Download all 58 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Syntype
CRU-3678 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 33
Field Museum of Natural History 4
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 3
Yale Peabody Museum 2
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 2
Illinois Natural History Survey 1
and 1 other collection 1

46 cataloged lots in 7 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 46 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

EXEWCRENVUNTLC▲

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G3G4 Vulnerable to Apparently Secure

G1G2G3▲G4▲G5

Global rank last reviewed 1 July 2009.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
S2 Imperiled
Tennessee
S3 Vulnerable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Threats

  • Dams & Water Extraction

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
7RTZ2
GBIF
2227359
ITIS
97373
iNaturalist
96570
NCBI Taxonomy
375934

How to cite this account

Cambarus hamulatus (Cope & Packard, 1881). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1160. https://cavebiology.org/species/cambarus-hamulatus/ (accessed 3 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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