Sweet Home Alabama Cave Crayfish
Cambarus speleocoopi Buhay & Crandall, 2009
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Malacostraca |
| Order | Decapoda |
| Family | Cambaridae |
| Genus | Cambarus |
| Species | Cambarus speleocoopi Buhay & Crandall, 2009 |
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
- Maximum length
- 21 mm
Distribution
Type locality
Kellers Cave, Marshall 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
- Limestone, Madison, Marshall
Karst regions
Interior Low Plateau
Genetics
Molecular resources
| Marker | Molecule | Sequences | Length | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16S | mitochondrial | 5 | 484-485 bp | EU433910.1 |
| COI | mitochondrial | 2 | 678-678 bp | DQ411781.1 |
| H3 | nuclear | 2 | 356-356 bp | DQ411808.1 |
| 12S | mitochondrial | 1 | 330-330 bp | DQ411727.1 |
| 28S | nuclear | 1 | 785-785 bp | JX514645.1 |
| other | unknown | 1 | 834-834 bp | DQ411792.1 |
12 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.
Download all 12 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.
Specimens
Type material
- Holotype
- USNM 1109966 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
- Allotype
- USNM 1109967 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
- Paratype ×2
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 4 |
| Auburn University Museum of Natural History | 1 |
| Illinois Natural History Survey | 1 |
6 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 6 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
IUCN Red List
EN Endangered B1ab(v)
Assessed in 2010.
NatureServe
G1 Critically Imperiled
Global rank last reviewed 1 July 2009.
Subnational ranks
- Alabama
- S1 Critically 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.
Threats
- Urbanization - Residential
- Dams & Water Extraction
- Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
Other resources
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.
- Boyd, S.H., Niemiller, K.D.K., Dooley, K.E., Nix, J. & Niemiller, M.L. 2020. Using environmental DNA methods to survey for rare groundwater fauna: detection of an endangered endemic cave crayfish in northern Alabama. PLoS One 15: e0242741. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0242741
- Breinholt, J.W., Porter, M.L. & Crandall, K.A. 2012. Testing phylogenetic hypotheses of the subgenera of the freshwater crayfish genus Cambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae). PLoS One 7(9): e46105. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046105
- 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
- Campbell, C.W., Sullivan, S.M. & Livingston, L.R. 1997. Modeling of a cave ecosystem. In: Beck, B.F., Herring, J.G. & Stephenson, J.B. (eds), The Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology of Karst Terranes, pp. 395–399. CRC Press, London, United Kingdom. doi:10.1201/9781003078128
- 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
- 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. 2011. Observations on the biology of the endangered stygobiotic shrimp Palaemonias alabamae, with notes on P. ganteri (Decapoda: Atyidae). Subterranean Biology 8: 9–20.
- 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, H.H. Jr., Hobbs, H.H. III & Daniel, M.A. 1977. A review of the troglobitic decapod crustaceans of the Americas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 244: 1–183.
- 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. 2017g. Sweet Home Alabama Cave Crayfish Cambarus speleocoopi Buhay and Crandall. In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, p. 113. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Stern, D.B., Breinholt, J., Pedraza-Lara, C., Lopez-Mejia, M., Owen, C.L., Bracken-Grissom, H., Fetzner, J.W., Jr. & Crandall, K.A. 2017. Phylogenetic evidence from freshwater crayfishes that cave adaptation is not an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution 71(10): 2522–2532. doi:10.1111/evo.13326
- Tennessee Cave Survey. 2005. Biological records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia caves. Tennessee Cave Survey.
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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