Sphalloplana percoeca (Packard, 1879)
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Platyhelminthes |
| Class | Turbellaria |
| Order | Tricladida |
| Family | Kenkiidae |
| Genus | Sphalloplana |
| Species | Sphalloplana percoeca (Packard, 1879) |
Synonyms
- Dendrocoelum percoecum Packard, 1879 (subjective synonym, CoL)
- Fonticola percaeca (Packard, 1879) (subjective synonym, CoL)
- Fonticola percoecum (Packard, 1879) (subjective synonym, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Mammoth Cave, Edmonson Co. KY
Range
Known from 30 counties across four states across two karst regions.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia
Counties
- Alabama
- Jackson, Madison
- Kentucky
- Caldwell, Carter, Edmonson, Estill, Hart, Jackson, Pulaski, Warren, Wayne
- Tennessee
- Bedford, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Coffee, Davidson, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Jackson, Marion, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Rutherford, Van Buren, White
- West Virginia
- Pendelton, Pendleton
Karst regions
Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau
Specimens
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 12 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Center | 7 |
| Field Museum of Natural History | 6 |
25 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 25 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G5 Secure
Global rank last reviewed 2002.
Subnational ranks
- Alabama
- SNR Unranked
- Kentucky
- S3 Vulnerable
- Tennessee
- S3 Vulnerable
- West Virginia
- S1 Critically Imperiled
State and federal status
Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Other resources
References
- Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
- Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987. details
- Carpenter, J.H. 1970a. Systematics and ecology of cave planarians of the United States. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 213 pp.
- Carpenter, J.H. 1970b. Geocentrophora cavernicola n. sp. (Turbellaria, Alloeocoela): first cave alloeocoel. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 89: 124–133. doi:10.2307/3224623
- Cooper, J.E. 1968b. Shelta Cave, a biological marvel. National Speleological Society News 26: 33–35.
- 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. & Cooper, M.R. 1966. Comments on Alabama cave biology. Huntsville Grotto Newsletter 7: 37–41.
- Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 1997a. New troglobitic crayfish of the genus Orconectes, subgenus Orconectes (Decapoda: Cambaridae), endemic to Shelta Cave, Huntsville, Alabama. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 59: 119–127.
- Dixon, G.B. & Zigler, K.S. 2011. Cave-obligate biodiversity on the campus of Sewanee: The University of the South, Franklin County, Tennessee. Southeastern Naturalist 10: 251–266. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41263008. details
- Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
- 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.
- Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 pp.
- Kenk, R. 1977a. Freshwater tricads (Turbellaria) of North America, IX: The genus Sphalloplana. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 246: 1–38. https://repository.si.edu/bitstreams/d38e70a7-fb46–474c-9ea0-f202898980ba/download. details
- Lewis, J.J. 1988. The systematics, zoogeography and life history of the troglobitic isopods of the Interior Plateaus of the eastern United States. University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. 281 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. 2005a. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 pp.
- Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
- Lewis, J.J., Whitaker, J.O. & Krantz, G.W. 2010. A biological reconnaissance of the invertebrate fauna of twelve Tennessee caves with notes on the guanophilic mites of the genus Macrocheles. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 85: 53–61.
- Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
- Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E., Inebnit, T., Miller, B., Tobin, B., Cramphorn, B., Hinkle, A., Jones, B.D., Mann, N. & Niemiller, K.D.K. 2023a. Fern Cave: a hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in the Interior Low Plateau karst region of Alabama in the southeastern United States. Diversity 15: 633. doi:10.3390/d15050633
- Niemiller, M.L. & Zigler, K.S. 2013. Patterns of cave biodiversity and endemism in the Appalachians and Interior Plateau of Tennessee, USA. PLOS One 8: e64177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064177
- Niemiller, M.L., Zigler, K.S., Hinkle, A., Stephen, C.D.R., Cramphorn, B., Higgs, J., Mann, N., Miller, B.T., Niemiller, K.D.K., Smallwood, K. & Hardy, J. 2023b. The Crystal-Wonder Cave System: a new hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in the southern Cumberland Plateau of south-central Tennessee, USA. Diversity 15: 801. doi:10.3390/d15070801
- Pearson, W.D. & Boston, C.H., Jr. 1995. Distribution and status of the northern cavefish, Amblyopsis spelaea. Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program,, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 99 pp.
- Wakefield, K.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2012. Obligate subterranean fauna of Carter State Natural Area, Franklin County, Tennessee. Speleolobiology Notes 4: 24–28.
This account was last revised 28 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Sphalloplana percoeca (Packard, 1879). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1432. https://cavebiology.org/species/sphalloplana-percoeca/ (accessed 18 October 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.