Big Blue Spring Cave Crayfish
Procambarus horsti Hobbs & Means, 1972

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Big Blue Springs, Jefferson Co., FL

Range

Known from three counties in Florida in the Florida Lime Sinks karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida

Counties

Florida

Jefferson, Leon, Wakulla

Karst regions

Florida Lime Sinks

Genetics

Molecular resources

5 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 5 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

USNM 218527 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Holotype

USNM 132043 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Allotype

USNM 132044 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Paratype ×4

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

10 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 10 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

EN Endangered B1ab(iii)

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 21 May 2026.

Subnational ranks

Florida

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

• Dams & Water Extraction
• Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
• Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
• Climate Change-Sea Level Rise

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

7WLTG

GBIF

2227169

ITIS

97523

iNaturalist

110463

NCBI Taxonomy

1937871

References

• Caine, E.A. 1974a. Zoogeography of the Floridian troglobitic crayfishes, genus Procambarus. The American Midland Naturalist 92: 487–492. doi:10.2307/2424314
• Caine, E.A. 1974b. Adaptations to species-specific habitats by epigean and troglobitic crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae). Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 85 pp.
• Caine, E.A. 1978. Comparative ecology of epigean and hypogean crayfish (Crustacea: Cambaridae) from northwestern Florida. The American Midland Naturalist 99: 315–329. doi:10.2307/2424809
• Culver, D.C. & Hobbs, III, H.H. 2002. Patterns of species richness in the Florida stygobitic fauna. Hydrogeology and Biology of Post-Palaeozoic Carbonate Aquifers. Proceedings of the Symposium Karst Frontiers: Florida and Related Environments: 60–63. https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SP7-Florida-PostPaleozoic-carbonate-aquifers.pdf. details
• Franz, R. 1992m. Big Blue Spring Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) horsti Hobbs and Means. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 199–200. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726. details
• Franz, R. & Franz, S.E. 1990. A review of the Florida crayfish fauna, with comments on nomenclature, distribution, and conservation. Florida Scientist 53: 286–296. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24320400. details
• Franz, R. & Lee, D.S. 1982. Distribution and evolution of Florida's troglobitic crayfishes. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 28: 53–78.
• 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, 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.
• Hobbs, H.H. Jr. & Means, D.B. 1972. Two new troglobitic crayfishes (Decapoda, Astacidae) from Florida. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 84: 393–410. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34563471. details
• 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.
• Poucher, S. 2011. A Field Guide to the Critters of Florida's Springs. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama, USA. 124 pp. ISBN 978–1-879961–42–5.
• Poucher, S. 2022. Wildlife of Florida's Springs. An Illustrated Guide to over 150 Species. Pineapple Press, Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 196 pp. ISBN 9780000000000.
• Relyea, K., Blody, D. & Bankowski, K. 1976. A Florida troglobitic crayfish: biogeographic implications. Florida Scientist 39: 71–72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319602. details
• 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
• Walsh, S.J. 2001. Freshwater macrofauna of Florida karst habitats. Proceedings of the 2001 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01–4011: 78–88. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_talks/101/. details

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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