Shelta Cave Crayfish
Cambarus sheltae (Cooper & Cooper, 1997)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Eyes

Vestigial

Pigment

Absent

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

19.7 mm

Distribution

Type locality

Shelta Cave, Madison Co. AL

Range

Known from one county in Alabama in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama

Counties

Alabama

Madison

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Habitat

Aquatic habitat

Cave lake

Cave zone

Deep cave

Ecology and life history

Genetics

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

CR Critically Endangered B2ab(iii)

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 2010.

Subnational ranks

Alabama

S1 Critically Imperiled

State and federal status

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

Threats

• Urbanization - Residential
• Recreational/Commerical Cave Activities
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
• Climate Change - Precip

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

LYQDM

GBIF

2227317

iNaturalist

1530306

References

• Bouchard, R.W. 1976. Crayfishes and shrimps. In: Boshung, H. (ed), Endangered and threatened plants and animals of Alabama. Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin 2, pp. 13–20. Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• 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.
• Buhay, J.E. & Crandall, K.A. 2009. Taxonomic revision of cave crayfish in the genus Cambarus, subgenus Aviticambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae) with descriptions of two new species, C. speleocoopi and C.laconensis, endemic to Alabama, U.S.A. Journal of Crustacean Biology 29(1): 121–134. doi:10.1651/08-3089.1
• Buhay, J.E., Moni, G., Mann, N. & Crandall, K.A. 2007. Molecular taxonomy in the dark: evolutionary history, phylogeography, and diversity of cave crayfish in the subgenus Aviticambarus, genus Cambarus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42(2): 435–448. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.07.014
• Cooper, J.E. 1966. Preliminary observation on the biology of Shelta Cave, Alabama. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society 28: 96–97.
• 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. 1968. Cave-associated herpetozoa II: salamanders of the genus Gyrinophilus in Alabama caves. National Speleological Society Bulletin 30: 19–24.
• 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.
• Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 2009. Long-term mark-recapture studies of population sizes in the stygobiotic crayfishes (Decapoda: Cambaridae) of Shelta Cave, Alabama, USA. Subterranean Biology 7: 35–40.
• Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 2011. Observations on the biology of the endangered stygobiotic shrimp Palaemonias alabamae, with notes on P. ganteri (Decapoda: Atyidae). Subterranean Biology 8: 9–20.
• Dooley, K.E., Niemiller, K.D.K., Sturm, N. & Niemiller, M.L. 2022. Rediscovery and phylogenetic analysis of the Shelta Cave Crayfish (Orconectes sheltae Cooper & Cooper, 1997), a decapod (Decapoda, Cambaridae) endemic to Shelta Cave in northern Alabama, USA. Subterranean Biology 43: 11–31. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.43.79993
• Engel, A.S. & Niemiller, M.L. 2024. The Southern Cumberland Plateau. In: Weaver, A. (ed), 2024 NSS Convention Guidebook: TAG Tour 2024, pp. 24–30. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama, USA.
• Godwin, J.C. 2000. Reassessment of the historical and search for new localities of the Tennessee cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus) in Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Montgomery, Alabama, USA. 15 pp.
• Hobbs, III., H.H. & Bagley, F.M. 1989. Shelta Cave management plan. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi, USA. 78 pp.
• Huryn, A.D. 2017f. Alabama Cave Crayfish Cambarus jonesi Hobbs and Barr. In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, pp. 109–110. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• Huryn, A.D. 2017b. Shelta Cave Crayfish Orconectes sheltae Cooper and Cooper. In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, pp. 101–102. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• 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
• Schuster, G.A., Taylor, C.A. & McGregor, S.W. 2022. Crayfishes of Alabama. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 496 pp.
• 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
• Tennessee Cave Survey. 2005. Biological records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia caves. Tennessee Cave Survey.

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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