Appalachian Cave Crayfish
Orconectes packardi Rhoades, 1944

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

60 mm

Distribution

Type locality

Sloans Valley Cave, Pulaski Co. KY

Range

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

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Kentucky, Tennessee

Counties

Kentucky

McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne

Tennessee

Overton

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Genetics

Molecular resources

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

Download all 33 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

USNM 81310 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Allotype

USNM 81312 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Paratype

CRU-13286 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Paratype ×4

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Topotype ×2

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Collections holding material

34 cataloged lots in 3 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 34 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

EN Endangered B1ab(iii)

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G2 Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 19 April 2024.

Subnational ranks

Kentucky

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

7W5Z6

GBIF

5789976

ITIS

1133812

iNaturalist

776145

NCBI Taxonomy

318483

References

• Barr, T.C., Jr. 1979. The taxonomy, distribution, and affinities of Neaphaenops, with notes on associated species of Pseudanophthalmus (Coleoptera, Carabidae). American Museum Novitates 2682: 1–20. https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/51c5f132–59fd-4ffc-b841-cbc1fd505dfb/download. details
• Buhay, J.E. & Crandall, K.A. 2005. Subterranean phylogeography of freshwater crayfishes shows extensive gene flow and surprisingly large population sizes. Molecular Ecology 14: 4259–4273.
• Buhay, J.E. & Crandall, K.A. 2008. Taxonomic revision of cave crayfishes in the genus Orconectes, subgenus Orconectes (Decapoda: Cambaridae) along the Cumberland Plateau, including a description of a new species, Orconectes barri. Journal of Crustacean Biology 28: 57–67.
• 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. & Beiter, D.P. 1972. The southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus (Pisces: Amblyopsidae), in the Mississippian Plateau of Kentucky. Copeia 1972: 879–881.
• Cottrell, T.E. 1985. Pine Hill Cave, Rockcastle County, Kentucky. In: Hacker, C., Vore, D. & Vore, D. (eds), 1985 NSS Convention Guidebook no. 25: The Caves of South Eastern Kentucky, pp. 46–49. Ohio Valley Region, National Speleological Society.
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1979. Caves and associated fauna of Eastern Kentucky, Volume 3. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 130 pp.
• Hart, C.W., Jr. & Hobbs, H.H., Jr. 1961. Eight new troglobitic ostracods of the genus Entocythere (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from the eastern United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 113: 173–185. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064545. details
• Hobbs, H.H., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1972. Origins and affinities of the troglobitic crayfishes of North America (Decapoda: Astacidae) II. Genus Orconectes. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 105: 1–84. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.105
• Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1971. A new troglobitic crayfish from Florida. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 34: 114–124. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24318041. details
• Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1989. An illustrated checklist of the American crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 480: 1–236. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.480
• 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. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
• Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
• Simon, T.P. 2011. Conservation status of North American freshwater crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the southern United States. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 120(1–2): 71–95. https://journals.indianapolis.iu.edu/index.php/ias/article/download/21024/20442/0. details
• Stern, D.B., Breinholt, J., Pedraza-Lara, C., Lopez-Mejia, M., Owen, C.L., Bracken-Grissom, H., Fetzner, J.W., Jr. & Crandall, K.A. 2017. Phylogenetic evidence from freshwater crayfishes that cave adaptation is not an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution 71(10): 2522–2532. doi:10.1111/evo.13326

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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