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

Southern Cave Crayfish
Orconectes australis (Rhoades, 1941)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Cambaridae
Genus Orconectes
Species Orconectes australis (Rhoades, 1941)

Synonyms

Cambarus pellucidus australis Rhoades, 1941
Orconectes australis australis (Rhoades, 1941)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Stygobiont
Realm
Aquatic
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic
Maximum body length
23.6 mm

Distribution

Type locality

Shelta Cave, Madison Co. AL

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 103 601-1523 bp EU583551.1
16S mitochondrial 45 481-484 bp EU433912.1
12S mitochondrial 3 372-383 bp EF207172.1
other unknown 1 904-904 bp AF005387.1

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

Download all 152 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype
USNM 79363 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Allotype
USNM 79364 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Paratype ×2
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Topotype
4535 · North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 121
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 20
Illinois Natural History Survey 7
Auburn University Museum of Natural History 6
Yale Peabody Museum 2
Brigham Young University 1
and 1 other collection 1

158 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 158 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

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

Global rank last reviewed 1 July 2009.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
S3 Vulnerable
Tennessee
S3 Vulnerable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Threats

  • Urbanization - Residential
  • Urbanization - Comm. & Industrial

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
7W5X4
GBIF
2227017
ITIS
97428
iNaturalist
107749
NCBI Taxonomy
61490

How to cite this account

Orconectes australis (Rhoades, 1941). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1174. https://cavebiology.org/species/orconectes-australis/ (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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