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

Cambarincola sheltensis Holt, 1973

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Clitellata
Order Branchiobdellida
Family Cambarincolidae
Genus Cambarincola
Species Cambarincola sheltensis Holt, 1973

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Stygobiont
Realm
Aquatic
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Shelta Cave, Madison Co. AL

Range

Known from three counties in Alabama in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama

Counties

Alabama
Jackson, Lauderdale, Madison

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Specimens

Type material

Holotype
USNM 49683 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Paratype ×3
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 12

12 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 12 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G1G2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

G1▲G2▲G3G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 1 October 1997.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
S1S2 Critically Imperiled to 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.

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
Q987
GBIF
5193947
ITIS
69261
iNaturalist
1664552

References

  • 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. 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.
  • Holt, P.C. 1973. Branchiobdellids (Annelida: Clitellata) from some eastern North American caves, with descriptions of new species of the genus Cambarincola. International Journal of Speleology 5: 219–256.
  • 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

This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Cambarincola sheltensis Holt, 1973. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0006. https://cavebiology.org/species/cambarincola-sheltensis/ (accessed 18 October 2026).
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Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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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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