{{Short description|Species of crayfish}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | image = CaveCrawfish.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Cordeiro, J. |author2=Crandall, K.A. |author3=Jones, T. |author4=Skelton, C. |author5=Thoma, R.F. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=''Cambarus cryptodytes'' |article-number=e.T3691A10023413 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T3691A10023413.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Cambarus | species = cryptodytes | authority = Hobbs, 1941 }} '''''Cambarus cryptodytes''''', the '''Dougherty Plain cave crayfish''' or '''Apalachicola cave crayfish''', is a small, freshwater [[crayfish]] [[Endemism|endemic]] to Florida and Georgia in the United States. It is an underground species known only from waters associated with the [[Floridan aquifer]].
==Description== The Dougherty Plain cave crayfish grows to a length of about {{convert|53|mm}} with [[Antenna (biology)|antennae]] twice this length. It is a colourless species with unpigmented eyes, segmented [[cephalothorax]] and [[abdomen]], a pair of slender [[Chela (organ)|chelae]] (claws) with a row or two of [[tubercle]]s and long slender [[appendage]]s. The rostrum is long and unadorned with tubercles or spines.<ref name=College>{{cite web |url=http://www.gcsu.edu/crayfishes/dougherty.htm |title=Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish |date=2012-09-01 |work=Crayfishes of Georgia |publisher=Georgia College |access-date=2013-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522114415/http://www.gcsu.edu/crayfishes/dougherty.htm# |archive-date=2013-05-22 }}</ref><ref name=Wildlife>{{cite web |url=http://naturalhistory.uga.edu/~GMNH/gawildlife/index.php?page=speciespages/ai_species_page&key=ccryptodytes |title=Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish |year=2008 |work=Georgia Wildlife |publisher=Georgia Museum of Natural History |access-date=2013-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611071228/http://naturalhistory.uga.edu/~GMNH/gawildlife/index.php?page=speciespages%2Fai_species_page&key=ccryptodytes# |archive-date=2010-06-11 }}</ref>
==Distribution== The Dougherty Plain cave crayfish is known from springs, wells and cave systems in the [[karst]] limestone region of Dougherty Plain in the [[Southeastern United States]]. It has been found in [[Dougherty County, Georgia|Dougherty County]] and [[Decatur County, Georgia|Decatur County]] in Georgia and [[Jackson County, Florida|Jackson County]] and [[Washington County, Florida|Washington County]] in Florida. It is likely also to be present in other Georgia counties which lie between the two presently-known ranges.<ref name=College/> A [[USGS]] survey of the area, carried out between September 2014 and August 2015, revealed additional sites in [[Early County, Georgia|Early]], [[Miller County, Georgia|Miller]], [[Mitchell County, Georgia|Mitchell]], and [[Seminole County, Georgia|Seminole]] counties.<ref>{{cite web|title=New distributional records of the stygobitic crayfish ''Cambarus cryptodytes'' (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in the Floridan Aquifer System of southwestern Georgia |author=Dante B. Fenolio|author2= Matthew L. Niemiller|author3= Andrew G. Gluesenkamp|author4= Anna M. McKee|author5= Steven J. Taylor |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1656/058.016.0205 |publisher=USGS |website=usgs.gov |url=https://www.usgs.gov/publications/new-distributional-records-stygobitic-crayfish-cambarus-cryptodytes-decapoda}}</ref>
==Biology== Little is known of the biology of this crayfish. It is probably an opportunistic [[omnivore|omnivorous]] scavenger and may feed on the [[Georgia blind salamander]] (''Eurycea wallacei'') which shares the same range.<ref name=College/> It has a low [[Metabolism|metabolic rate]], perhaps associated with the limited availability of food, and consequently it is possible that it may live for twenty years or more. Males with ripe [[gonad]]s have been found between July and October but females bearing eggs, juveniles or sub-adults have not been found in the wild.<ref name=Wildlife/> However, a full breeding cycle has been observed in captivity in the lab. This was the first breeding record for a [[troglomorphic]] crayfish.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Danté B. Fenolio |author2= Matthew L. Niemiller |author3= Benjamin Martinez |name-list-style=amp |date=January 2014 |title=Observations of reproduction in captivity by the Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish, ''Cambarus cryptodytes'', (Decapoda: Astacoidea: Cambaridae) |journal=Speleobiology Notes |volume=6 |pages=14-26 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260187003_Observations_of_reproduction_in_captivity_by_the_Dougherty_Plain_Cave_Crayfish_Cambarus_cryptodytes_Decapoda_Astacoidea_Cambaridae}}</ref>
==Status== In 1996 this species was listed as "[[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]]" in the [[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] but following the discovery that its range is wider than originally thought, it was in 2010 recategorised as being of "[[Least concern]]" on the grounds that it has a broad range and is common within that range. It seems to be able to live in water with low oxygen levels and may be widespread in the aquifer away from locations that open to the surface.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> Potential threats include removal of water from the aquifer for human use and contamination of the water by pesticides and excess nutrients from agricultural operations.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4467676}}
[[Category:Cambaridae|cryptodytes]] [[Category:Cave crayfish]] [[Category:Endemic crustaceans of the United States]] [[Category:Freshwater crustaceans of North America]] [[Category:Crustaceans described in 1941]] [[Category:Taxa named by Horton H. Hobbs Jr.]] [[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]