Bigcheek Cave Crayfish
Procambarus delicatus Hobbs & Franz, 1986

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

50 mm

Distribution

Type locality

Alexander Springs Cave, Lake Co., FL

Range

Known from one county in Florida in the Florida Lime Sinks karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida

Counties

Florida

Lake

Karst regions

Florida Lime Sinks

Genetics

Molecular resources

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

Download all 2 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

USNM 218528 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Allotype

USNM 144848 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Paratype

USNM 145578 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

3 cataloged lots in 1 collection. 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 3 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

CR Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 15 May 2026.

Subnational ranks

Florida

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

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Threats

• Recreational/Commerical Cave Activities
• Dams & Water Extraction
• Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
• Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
• Climate Change-Sea Level Rise

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

7WLS9

GBIF

2227164

ITIS

97600

iNaturalist

110437

NCBI Taxonomy

1937850

References

• Culver, D.C. & Hobbs, III, H.H. 2002. Patterns of species richness in the Florida stygobitic fauna. Hydrogeology and Biology of Post-Palaeozoic Carbonate Aquifers. Proceedings of the Symposium Karst Frontiers: Florida and Related Environments: 60–63. https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SP7-Florida-PostPaleozoic-carbonate-aquifers.pdf. details
• Franz, R. 1992j. Big-Cheeked Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) delicatus Hobbs and Franz. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 193–194. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726. details
• Franz, R. & Lee, D.S. 1982. Distribution and evolution of Florida's troglobitic crayfishes. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 28: 53–78.
• 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. & Franz, R. 1986. New troglobitic crayfish with comments on its relationship to epigean and other hypogean crayfishes of Florida. Journal of Crustacean Biology 6: 509–519. doi:10.2307/1548190
• Hobbs, H.H. Jr. & Franz, R. 1992. Procambarus (Ortmannicus) attiguus, a new troglobitic crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the Saint Johns River basin, Florida. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 105: 359–365. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35607532. details
• Morris, T.L. 2006. A biological inventory of aquifer caves in Florida with special emphasis on troglobitic crustaceans and salamanders. Final report S0057 to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• Niemiller, M.L., Zigler, K.S., Curtis, A.N., Trapeni, C.M., Slay, M.E., Culver, D.C., Hutchins, B.T. & Niemiller, K.D.K. 2025a. Out of sight and out of mind? The conservation status of subterranean biodiversity in the United States and Canada. Biodiversity and Conservation 34: 2851–2882. doi:10.1007/s10531-025-03099-6
• Poucher, S. 2011. A Field Guide to the Critters of Florida's Springs. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. 124 pp. ISBN 978–1-879961–42–5.
• Poucher, S. 2022. Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 196 pp. ISBN 9780000000000.
• Relyea, K., Blody, D. & Bankowski, K. 1976. A Florida troglobitic crayfish: biogeographic implications. Florida Scientist 39: 71–72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319602. details
• 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
• Walsh, S.J. 2001. Freshwater macrofauna of Florida karst habitats. Proceedings of the 2001 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01–4011: 78–88. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/101/. details

How to cite this account

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.