Appalachian Valley crangonyctid
Crangonyx antennatus Packard, 1881
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Malacostraca |
| Order | Amphipoda |
| Family | Crangonyctidae |
| Genus | Crangonyx |
| Species | Crangonyx antennatus Packard, 1881 |
Synonyms
- Niphargus antennatus (Packard, 1881) (prior combination, CoL)
- Eucrangonyx antennatus (Packard, 1881) (prior combination, CoL)
- Crangonyx antennuatus Packard, 1881 (subjective synonym, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Stygobiont
- Realm
- Aquatic
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Nickajack Cave, Marion Co. TN
Range
Known from 39 counties across four states across two karst regions.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia
Counties
- Alabama
- Blount, Calhoun, De Kalb, DeKalb, Jackson, Jefferson, Marshall, St. Clair
- Georgia
- Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Grady, Walker
- Tennessee
- Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Claiborne, Cumberland, Decatur, Grainger, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Knox, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Roane, Sullivan, Union, Washington, Wayne
- Virginia
- Caroline, Lee, Scott, Washington, Wise
Karst regions
Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau
Genetics
Molecular resources
| Marker | Molecule | Sequences | Length | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COI | mitochondrial | 1 | 535-535 bp | KY748275.1 |
1 sequence, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.
Download all 1 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.
Specimens
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 220 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Center | 2 |
222 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 222 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G5 Secure
Global rank last reviewed 17 March 2008.
Subnational ranks
- Alabama
- S3S5 Vulnerable to Secure
- Georgia
- SNR Unranked
- Tennessee
- S4 Apparently Secure
- Virginia
- S3 Vulnerable
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
- 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.
- Cope, E.D. & Packard, A.S. 1881. The fauna of the Nickajack Cave. American Naturalist 15: 877–882.
- Gladstone, N.S., Perez, K.E., Pieper, E.B., Carter, E.T., Dooley, K.E., Shoobs, N.F., Engel, A.S. & Niemiller, M.L. 2019. A new species of stygobitic snail in the genus Antrorbis Hershler & Thompson, 1990 (Gastropoda, Cochliopidae) from the Appalachian Valley and Ridge of eastern Tennessee, USA. ZooKeys 898: 103–120. doi:10.3897/zookeys.898.46917
- 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
- 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.
- Hubricht, L. 1943. Studies in the Nearctic freshwater amphipods, III. Notes on the freshwater Amphipoda of eastern United States, with descriptions of ten new species. The American Midland Naturalist 29: 683–712. doi:10.2307/2421157
- Kenk, R. 1977a. Freshwater tricads (Turbellaria) of North America, IX: The genus Sphalloplana. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 246: 1–38. https://repository.si.edu/bitstreams/d38e70a7-fb46–474c-9ea0-f202898980ba/download. details
- 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.
- 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
- 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. details
- Simmons, D.D. 1975. The evolutionary ecology of Gyrinophilus palleucus. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 105 pp.
- Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
- Zhang, J. & Holsinger, J.R. 2003. Systematics of the freshwater amphipod genus Crangonyx (Crangonyctidae) in North America. Virginia Museum of Natural History Memior 6: 1–274.
- 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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