{{Short description|Genus of crayfish}} {{Automatic taxobox |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.<ref name=oxford>{{cite web |url=https://academic.oup.com/jcb/article/37/5/615/4060680?login=false |work=The Crayfish and Lobster Taxonomy Browser |title=An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list |author1=Keith A Crandall |author-link1=Keith A. Crandall |author2=Sammy De Grave. |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02812.x |title=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 |journal=Freshwater Biology |author=Michael P. Venarsky|year=2012 |volume=57 |issue=7 |pages=1471–1481 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2427.2012.02812.x |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== 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''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tolweb.org/Orconectes/6717 |publisher=Tree of Life Web Project |title=''Orconectes'' Cope, 1872 |author=Keith A. Crandall|author-link1=Keith A. Crandall|author2=James W. Fetzner, Jr.|author3=Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. |author-link3=Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. |year=2001}}</ref>
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.<ref name="oxford" /> Following the review, approximately 8 species are known:<ref>{{cite WoRMS|author=De Grave, Sammy|year=2021|title=''Orconectes'' Cope, 1872|id=234097}}</ref>
thumb|right|''O. pellucidus'' (Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA)
{|class="wikitable" |+ !Scientific name !Authority !Common name !Red List status !Type locality |- | ''O. australis'' || (Rhoades, 1941) || southern cave crayfish || {{sort|1|LC}} || Shelta Cavern, Madison County, Alabama |- | ''O. barri'' || Buhay & Crandall, 2008 || Cumberland Plateau cave crayfish || {{sort|2|DD}} || Tonya's Cave, Wayne County, Kentucky |- | ''O. incomptus'' || Hobbs & Barr, 1972 || Tennessee cave crayfish || {{sort|3|VU}} || Cherry Cave, Jackson County, Tennessee |- | ''O. inermis inermis'' || Cope, 1872 || ghost crayfish || {{sort|1|LC}} || Wyandotte Caves, Crawford County, Indiana |- | ''O. inermis testii'' || (Hay, 1891) || unarmed crayfish || {{sort|1|LC}} || Mayfield's Cave, Monroe County, Indiana |- | ''O. packardi'' || Rhoades, 1944 || Appalachian cave crayfish || {{sort|4|EN}} || Cumberland Crystal Cave, Pulaski County, Kentucky |- | ''O. pellucidus'' || (Tellkampf, 1844) || Mammoth Cave crayfish || {{sort|1|LC}} || Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky |- | ''O. sheltae'' || Cooper & Cooper, 1997 || Shelta cave crayfish || {{sort|5|CR}} ||Shelta Cave, Madison County, Alabama |- | ''O. stygocaneyi'' || Hobbs, 2001 || Caney Mountain cave crayfish || {{sort|1|LC}} || Mud Cave, Caney Mountain Conservation Area, Ozark County, Missouri |}
== References == {{Reflist|32em}}
== External links == *{{Wikispecies-inline|Orconectes|''Orconectes''}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1311791}}
Category:Cambaridae Category:Cave crayfish Category:Fauna of the Eastern United States Category:Freshwater crustaceans of North America Category:Crustacean genera Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope