North Florida Spider Cave Crayfish
Troglocambarus maclanei Hobbs, 1942

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Stygobiont

Realm

Aquatic

Troglomorphy

Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Squirrel Chimney, Alachua Co., FL

Range

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

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Florida

Counties

Florida

Alachua, Citrus, Columbia, Gilchrist, Hernando, Levy, Marion, Pasco, Suwannee

Karst regions

Florida Lime Sinks

Genetics

Molecular resources

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

Download all 6 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Type material

Holotype

USNM 79385 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Allotype

USNM 79386 · National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Paratype

CRU-13302 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Paratype ×4

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

42 cataloged lots in 5 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 42 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

NT Near Threatened na

Assessed in 2010.

NatureServe

G1G2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

Global rank last reviewed 8 April 2022.

Subnational ranks

Florida

S1S2 Critically Imperiled to 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
• Urbanization - Comm. & Industrial
• Mining & Quarrying
• Recreational/Commerical Cave Activities
• Dams & Water Extraction
• Pollution -Sewage or Urban Wastewater
• Pollution - Commercial/Industrial
• Pollution - Agricultural & Forestry
• Climate Change-Sea Level Rise

Other resources

Catalogue of Life

7X4TN

GBIF

2227119

ITIS

97644

iNaturalist

82168

NCBI Taxonomy

1522737

References

• Chace & F.A. Jr. 1954. Two new subterranean shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) from Florida and the West Indies, with a revised key to the American species. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 44: 318–324. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24533251. details
• Cooper, J.E. & Cooper, M.R. 1997a. New troglobitic crayfish of the genus Orconectes, subgenus Orconectes (Decapoda: Cambaridae), endemic to Shelta Cave, Huntsville, Alabama. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 59: 119–127.
• 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
• Doonan, T.J. 2001. Survey of Squirrel Chimney and other selected caves to determine the status of Squirrel Chimney Cave Shrimp (Palaemonetes cummingi). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 44 pp.
• Franz, R. 1992o. Withlacoochee Light-Fleeing Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) lucifugus lucifugus (Hobbs). In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 203–205. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992n. Coastal Lowland Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) leitheuseri Franz and Hobbs. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 201–202. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992e. Squirrel Chimney Cave Shrimp Palaemonetes cummingi Chace. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 181–182. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992k. Sante Fe Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) erythrops Relyea and Sutton. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 195–197. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992l. Orange Lake Cave Crayfish Procambarus (Ortmannicus) franzi Hobbs and Lee. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 197–198. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1992s. North Florida Spider Cave Crayfish Troglocambarus maclanei Hobbs. In: Deyrup, M. & Franz, R. (eds), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates, pp. 214–216. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Franz, R. 1994. Squirrel Chimney Cave Shrimp survey. Report prepared for Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 4 pp.
• 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. & Lee, D.S. 1982. Distribution and evolution of Florida's troglobitic crayfishes. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 28: 53–78.
• Gannon, A.T., Demarco, V.G., Morris, T., Wheatly, M.G., Kao & Y-H. 1999. Oxygen uptake, critical oxygen tension, and available oxygen for three species of cave crayfishes. Journal of Crustacean Biology 19: 235–243. doi:10.2307/1549229
• Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1942a. A generic revision of the crayfishes of the subfamily Cambarinae (Decapoda, Astacidae) with the description of a new genus and species. The American Midland Naturalist 28: 334–357. doi:10.2307/2420820
• Hobbs & H.H. Jr. 1942b. The Crayfishes of Florida. University of Florida Biological Science Series Volume 3, Issue 2, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 179 pp.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Morris, T. & Butt, P.L. 1992. A survey of the population of the Florida cave shrimp (Palaemonetes cummingi), other species, and the condition of the environment within the Squirrel Chimney Cave system, Alachua County, Florida. Report prepared for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 10 pp.
• Morris, T. & Butt, P.L. 1994. A re-survey of the population of the Squirrel Chimney (Florida) cave shrimp (Palaemonetes cummingi), other species, and the condition of the environment within the Squirrel Chimney Cave system, Alachua County, Florida. Report prepared for Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 12 pp.
• Morris, T. & Butt, P.L. 1996. Status and distribution of the Florida Cave Shrimp (Palaemonetes cummingi) and other species in Herzog Cave, Alachua County, FL.; May, 1996 survey. Report prepared for Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Karst Environmental Services, Inc., High Springs, Florida, USA. 15 pp.
• Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
• 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. & Sutton, B. 1973a. Ecological data for a Florida troglobitic crayfish. Florida Scientist 36: 234–235. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319474. 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
• Warren, R.D. 1961. The obligate cavernicoles of Florida. Special Papers of the Florida Speleological Society 1: 1–10.

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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