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

Ghost Crayfish
Orconectes inermis Cope, 1872

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Cambaridae
Genus Orconectes
Species Orconectes inermis Cope, 1872

Description

Diagnostic characters

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

Distribution

Type locality

Sibert's Well, Crawford Co. IN

Range

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

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Indiana, Kentucky

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
28S nuclear 2 238-416 bp KX237960.1
COI mitochondrial 1 1522-1522 bp AY701201.1

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

Download all 3 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Syntype
CRU-7431 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard
Type
USNM 17702 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 99
Field Museum of Natural History 11
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 2
Illinois Natural History Survey 1
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 1

114 cataloged lots in 5 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 114 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

Indiana
S3 Vulnerable
Kentucky
S3 Vulnerable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
7W5Y7
GBIF
2227040
ITIS
97449
iNaturalist
107777
NCBI Taxonomy
306150

How to cite this account

Orconectes inermis Cope, 1872. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1177. https://cavebiology.org/species/orconectes-inermis/ (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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