Orconectes sheltae, the Shelta Cave crayfish,[1] is a small, freshwater crayfish endemic to Alabama in the United States. It is a cave-dwelling species known from only one cave, Shelta Cave in Madison County, Alabama. This cave is also home to O. australis and Cambarus jonesi.[1]
| Orconectes sheltae | |
|---|---|
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| Male | |
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| Female | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Family: | Cambaridae |
| Genus: | Orconectes |
| Species: | O. sheltae
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| Binomial name | |
| Orconectes sheltae J. E. Cooper and M. R. Cooper, 1997
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It was first discovered in 1963, before being formally described in 1997. The last cave survey to successfully locate the species was in 1988, and therefore it was considered as being extinct for over 30 years until its rediscovery in 2019.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Schuster, G.A.; Taylor, C.A. & Cordeiro, J. (2010). "Orconectes sheltae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T153962A4569540. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T153962A4569540.en. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ "Orconectes sheltae". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ Katherine E. Dooley; K. Denise Kendall Niemiller; Nathaniel Sturm & Matthew L. Niemiller (20 May 2022). "Rediscovery and phylogenetic analysis of the Shelta Cave Crayfish (Orconectes sheltae Cooper & Cooper, 1997), a decapod (Decapoda, Cambaridae) endemic to Shelta Cave in northern Alabama, USA". Subterranean Biology. 43: 11–31. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.43.79993. ISSN 1314-2615.
Media related to Orconectes sheltae at Wikimedia Commons
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