Orconectes

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title: "Orconectes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cambaridae", "cave-crayfish", "fauna-of-the-eastern-united-states", "freshwater-crustaceans-of-north-america", "crustacean-genera", "taxa-named-by-edward-drinker-cope"] description: "Genus of crayfish" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orconectes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of crayfish ::

|image = Orconectes.jpg |image_caption = |image_alt = Unidentified Orconectes |taxon = Orconectes |authority = Cope, 1872 |type_species = Orconectes inermis |type_species_authority = Cope, 1872

Orconectes is a genus of cave dwelling freshwater crayfish, endemic to suitable habitats in the eastern United States. Surface dwelling species, formerly categorised here, were moved to Faxonius in 2017.

Due to their subterranean habitat, they are usually depigmented, often blind, and are long-lived. Ages of 176 years have been claimed for O. australis, though this was reduced to ≤22 years in a 2012 study.

Taxonomy

The genus Orconectes was erected in 1872 by Edward Drinker Cope to house Astacus pellucidus (now Orconectes pellucidus) and his new species, Orconectes inermis.

Prior to the 2017 review by Oxford university, the genus contained 85 species in 11 subgenera. The Faxonius subgenus was raised to a full genus, and the majority of species formerly recorded as Orconectes were moved there. Following the review, approximately 8 species are known:

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Orconectes_pellucidus_(cave_crayfish)_(Mammoth_Cave,_Kentucky,_USA).jpg" caption="''O. pellucidus'' (Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA)"] ::

::data[format=table title=""]

Scientific name	Authority	Common name	Red List status	Type locality
O. australis	(Rhoades, 1941)	southern cave crayfish		Shelta Cavern, Madison County, Alabama
O. barri	Buhay & Crandall, 2008	Cumberland Plateau cave crayfish		Tonya's Cave, Wayne County, Kentucky
O. incomptus	Hobbs & Barr, 1972	Tennessee cave crayfish		Cherry Cave, Jackson County, Tennessee
O. inermis	Cope, 1872	ghost crayfish		Wyandotte Caves, Crawford County, Indiana
O. i. testii	(Hay, 1891)	unarmed crayfish		Mayfield's Cave, Monroe County, Indiana
O. packardi	Rhoades, 1944	Appalachian cave crayfish		Cumberland Crystal Cave, Pulaski County, Kentucky
O. pellucidus	(Tellkampf, 1844)	Mammoth Cave crayfish		Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
O. sheltae	Cooper & Cooper, 1997	Shelta cave crayfish		Shelta Cave, Madison County, Alabama
O. stygocaneyi	Hobbs III, 2001	Caney Mountain cave crayfish		Mud Cave, Caney Mountain Conservation Area, Ozark County, Missouri
::

References

References

1. "''An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list''". [[Oxford University Press]].
2. Michael P. Venarsky. (2012). "Re-examining extreme longevity of the cave crayfish Orconectes australis using new mark–recapture data: a lesson on the limitations of iterative size-at-age models". Freshwater Biology.
3. Keith A. Crandall. (2001). "''Orconectes'' Cope, 1872". [[Tree of Life Web Project]].
4. "Search". [[IUCN]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::