White Spring Cave Crayfish
Cambarus veitchorum Cooper & Cooper, 1997

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Maximum length

35 mm

Distribution

Type locality

White Spring Cave, Limestone 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

Limestone

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

2544 · North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Allotype

2545 · North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Paratype ×2

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Collections holding material

5 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 5 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

CR Critically Endangered D2

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 17 May 2010.

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.

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

7RV68

GBIF

2227356

ITIS

650396

iNaturalist

96623

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. 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. & Cooper, M.R. 1997b. A new species of troglobitic crayfish of the genus Cambarus, subgenus Aviticambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae), endemic to White Spring Cave, Alabama. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110: 608–616. https://research.nhm.org/pdfs/32048/32048.pdf. details
• 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.
• Huryn, A.D. 2017d. White Spring Cave Crayfish Cambarus veitchorum Cooper and Cooper. In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, p. 100. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• 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

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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