Tennessee Valley Cave Isopod
Caecidotea richardsonae Hay, 1901
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Malacostraca |
| Order | Isopoda |
| Family | Asellidae |
| Genus | Caecidotea |
| Species | Caecidotea richardsonae Hay, 1901 |
Synonyms
- Conasellus richardsonae (Hay, 1901) (prior combination, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Nickajack Cave, Marion Co. TN
Range
Known from 27 counties across four states across three karst regions.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia
Counties
- Alabama
- Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, De Kalb, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, St. Clair, Talladega
- Georgia
- Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Walker
- Tennessee
- Bledsoe, Claiborne, Grainger, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Marion, Maury, Sullivan
- Virginia
- Lee, Scott, Tazewell
Karst regions
Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau, Other
Specimens
Type material
- Type
- USNM 25542 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 58 |
| Auburn University Museum of Natural History | 1 |
59 cataloged lots in 2 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 59 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G5 Secure
Global rank last reviewed 22 September 2010.
Subnational ranks
- Alabama
- SNR Unranked
- Georgia
- SNR Unranked
- Virginia
- S3 Vulnerable
- Tennessee
- SNR Unranked
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
References
- 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
- Coleman, W.T. & Zigler, K.S. 2015. The rediscovery of Caecidotea nickajackensis in Tennessee and Alabama. Speleolobiology Notes 7: 10–13.
- Cooper, J.E. 1968a. 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. details
- Fleming, L.E. 1972. The evolution of the eastern North American isopods of the genus Asellus (Crustacea: Asellidae). Part I. International Journal of Speleology 4: 221–256. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1605&context=ijs. details
- Hay, W.P. 1901. Two new subterranean crustaceans from the United States. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 14: 179–180. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2339123. details
- Hay, W.P. 1902a. Observations on the crustacean fauna of Nickajack Cave, Tennessee, and vicinity. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25: 417–439. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.25-1292.417
- 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. 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. 2009a. On the identity of Caecidotea nickajackensis (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 122: 215–224. doi:10.2988/08-47.1
- Lewis, S.L., Lewis, J.J. & Orndorff, W. 2021. Caecidotea burkensis, new species, a unique subterranean isopod from Burke’s Garden, with a synthesis of the biogeography and evolution of southwestern Virginia asellids. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 83: 78–87. doi:10.4311/2020LSC0126
- 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., Fenolio, D.B. & Zigler, K.S. 2012b. The obligate cave fauna of Georgia. Bulletin of the Georgia Speleological Survey 2012: 6–12.
- 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., Hart, P.B., Kuhajda, B.R., Armbruster, J.W., Ayala, B.N. & Engel, A.S. 2016a. First definitive record of a stygobiotic fish (Percopsiformes, Amblyopsidae, Typhlichthys) from the Appalachians karst region in the eastern United States. Subterranean Biology 20: 39–50. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.20.9693
- Steeves, H.R. 1963. The troglobitic asellids of the United States: the stygius group. The American Midland Naturalist 69: 470–481. doi:10.2307/2422923
- 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
This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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