Putnum County Cave Crayfish
Procambarus morrisi Hobbs & Franz, 1991

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Devil’s Sink, Putnam Co., FL

Range

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

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida

Counties

Florida

Columbia, Putnam

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 220374 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Allotype

USNM 220375 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Paratype ×5

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

13 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 13 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

CR Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 16 September 2022.

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

• Recreational/Commerical Cave Activities
• Dams & Water Extraction
• Climate Change-Sea Level Rise

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

7WLVX

GBIF

2227188

ITIS

650389

iNaturalist

110494

NCBI Taxonomy

1937897

References

• 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. 1992g. Putnam County Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Lonnbergius) morrisi Hobbs and Franz. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 185–186. 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
• Hobbs, H.H. Jr. & Franz, R. 1991. A new troglobitic crayfish, Procambarus (Lonnbergius) morrisi, (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from Florida. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 104: 55–63. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34808743. details
• Morris, T.L. 2006. A biological inventory of aquifer caves in Florida with special emphasis on troglobitic crustaceans and salamanders. Final report S0057 to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• 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.
• 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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