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

Cavespring Crayfish
Cambarus tenebrosus Hay, 1902

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Cambaridae
Genus Cambarus
Species Cambarus tenebrosus Hay, 1902

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Stygophile
Realm
Aquatic

Distribution

Range

Known from 42 counties across six states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Colbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan
Georgia
Dade
Illinois
Hardin, Johnson, Union
Indiana
Lawrence, Monroe
Kentucky
Breckinridge, Caldwell, Christian, Edmonson, Hardin, Hart, Larue, Madison, Meade, Pulaski, Warren
Tennessee
Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Jackson, Marion, Montgomery, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Rutherford, Van Buren, Warren, White

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

EXEWCRENVUNTLC▲

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

National ranks

United States
N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Tennessee
S5 Secure
Ohio
S2 Imperiled
Alabama
S4 Apparently Secure
Indiana
S4 Apparently Secure
Illinois
S3 Vulnerable
Kentucky
S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

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  • Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987.
  • Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
  • Cooper, J.E. 1968. The salamander Gyrinophilus palleucus in Georgia, with notes on Alabama and Tennessee population. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science 39: 182–185. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54954393.
  • 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. & Beiter, D.P. 1972. The southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus (Pisces: Amblyopsidae), in the Mississippian Plateau of Kentucky. Copeia 1972: 879–881.
  • Cooper, J.E. & Kuehne, R.A. 1974. Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni, a new genus and species of subterranean fish from Alabama. Copeia 1974: 486–493.
  • 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. 1997. 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. 2011. Observations on the biology of the endangered stygobiotic shrimp Palaemonias alabamae, with notes on P. ganteri (Decapoda: Atyidae). Subterranean Biology 8: 9–20.
  • Faxon, W. 1914. Notes on the crayfishes in the United States National Museum and the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, with descriptions of new species and subspecies, to which is appended a catalogue of the known species and subspecies. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 40: 351–427. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pagethumb/13305306,100,100.
  • Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
  • 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.
  • Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
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  • 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.
  • Hay, W.P. 1902. Observations on the crustacean fauna of the region about Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25: 223–236. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.25-1285.223
  • Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1942. A generic revision of the crayfishes of the subfamily Cambarinae (Decapoda, Astacidae) with the description of a new genus and species. The American Midland Naturalist 28: 334–357. doi:10.2307/2420820
  • Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1942. The Crayfishes of Florida. University of Florida Biological Science Series Volume 3, Issue 2, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 179 pp.
  • Hobbs, H.H., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1960. The origins and affinities of the troglobitic crayfishes of North America (Decapoda, Astacidae). I. The genus Cambarus. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 12–33. doi:10.2307/2422890
  • 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, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 pp.
  • 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.
  • Huntsman, B.M., Venarsky, M.P. & Benstead, J.P. 2011. Relating carrion breakdown rates to ambient resource level and community structure in four cave stream ecosystems. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 30: 882–892. doi:10.1899/10-116.1
  • Huntsman, B.M., Venarsky, M.P., Benstead, J.P. & Huryn, A.D. 2011. Effects of organic matter availability on the life history and production of a top vertebrate predator (Plethodontidae: Gyrinophilus palleucus) in two cave streams. Freshwater Biology 56: 1746–1760.
  • Huryn, A.D. 2017. Lacon Exit Cave Crayfish Cambarus laconensis Buhay and Crandall. In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, p. 99. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
  • Huryn, A.D. 2017. 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.
  • Lawson, K.M., Schotz, A.R., Jenkins, A.J., Armbruster, J.W., Black, C., Callahan, M., Goertzen, L., Hansen, C., Stephen, C.D.R., Werneke, D., Mendonca, M. & Molina, E. 2021. Planning level survey of Redstone Arsenal for at-risk species and ecologically significant communities. Environmental Management Division, U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. 402 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Bowman, T.E. 1981. The subterranean asellids (Caecidotea) of Illinois (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 335: 1–66. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.335
  • Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2005. 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.
  • McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
  • McGregor, S.W., O'Neil, P.E., Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1997. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 166: 1–198.
  • 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. & Reeves, W.C. 2014. Predation by the stygophilic crayfish Cambarus tenebrosus on the salamander Pseudotriton ruber within a cave in Cannon County, Tennessee, USA. Speleolobiology Notes 6: 8–13.
  • Niemiller, M.L., Glorioso, B.M., Fenolio, D.B., Reynolds, R.G., Taylor, S.J. & Miller, B.T. 2016. Growth, survival, longevity, and population size of the Big Mouth Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides) from the type locality in Grundy County, Tennessee, USA. Copeia 104: 35–41. doi:10.1643/OT-14-197
  • Niemiller, M.L., Inebnit, T., Hinkle, A., Jones, B.D., Jones, M., Lamb, J., Mann, N., Miller, B., Pinkley, J., Pitts, S., Sapkota, K.N. & Slay, M.E. 2019. Discovery of a new population of the federally endangered Alabama cave shrimp, Palaemonias alabamae Smalley, 1961, in northern Alabama. Subterranean Biology 32: 43–59. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.32.38280
  • Niemiller, M.L., Maxwell, E. & Higgs, J.P. 2024. A biological inventory of Sinking Spring Cave at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Larue County, Kentucky, USA. U.S. National Park Service, Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. 21 pp.
  • Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
  • Packard, A.S. 1871. The Mammoth Cave and its inhabitants. On the crustaceans and insects. American Naturalist 5: 739–761. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2447590.
  • 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.
  • Peck, S.B. & Lewis, J.J. 1978. Zoogeography and evolution of the subterranean invertebrate faunas of Illinois and southeastern Missouri. National Speleological Society Bulletin 40: 39–63.
  • Poulson, T.L. 1961. Cave adaptation in amblyopsid cavefishes. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 185 pp. doi:10.7302/9847
  • Putnam, F.W. 1877. On some of the habits of the blind crawfish, Cambarus pellucidus, and the reproduction of lost parts. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 18: 16–19.
  • Reeves, W.K. & Reynolds, J.W. 1999. New records of cave-dwelling earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae and Naididae) and other annelids (Aeolosomatida, Branchiobdellida and Hirudinea) in the southeastern United States, with notes on their ecology. Megadrilogica 7: 65–71.
  • Reeves, W.K., Jensen, J.B. & Ozier, J.C. 2000. New faunal and fungal records from caves in Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 62: 169–179. https://caves.org/wp-content/uploads/Publications/JCKS/v62/v62n3-Reeves.pdf.
  • Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1992. Geologic, hydrologic, and biologic investigations in Arrowwood, Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and selected caves, Madison, County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 262 pp.
  • Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1994. Hydrogeologic and biologic factors related to the occurrence of the Alabama cave shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae), Madison County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 161: 1–147.
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  • Sutherland, C. 2018. Trip report: East Water Supply Cave. Tennessee Caver 2018: 26–27.
  • Venarsky, M.P., Huryn, A.D. & Benstead, J.P. 2012. Re-examining extreme longevity of the cave crayfish Orconectes australis using new mark-recapture data: a lesson on the limitations of iterative size-at-age models. Freshwater Biology 57: 1471–1481. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02812.x
  • Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.
  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Cambarus tenebrosus Hay, 1902. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1559. https://cavebiology.org/species/cambarus-tenebrosus/ (accessed 7 September 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.

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.

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