Caecidotea nickajackensis

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Caecidotea nickajackensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Isopoda
Family:
Asellidae
Genus:
Caecidotea
Species:
C. nickajackensis
Binomial name
Caecidotea nickajackensis
Packard, 1881

Caecidotea nickajackensis is an extinct species of isopod crustacean in the family Asellidae. It was endemic to a single cave in Tennessee, and was thought to have been exterminated when that cave was flooded in 1967 by the building of the Nickajack Dam.

Distribution[]

Caecidotea nickajackensis was only known to have occurred in Nickajack Cave, Tennessee, before the building of the Nickajack Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1967.[2] Two other obligate stygobionts were exterminated in the same action – the pseudoscorpion and the ground beetle .[2]

Conservation[]

C. nickajackensis was listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List,[1] and as a "species of concern" under the Endangered Species Act.[3] It was extirpated from Nickajack Cave in 1967, and was now thought to be extinct.[2]

Taxonomy[]

Caecidotea nickajackensis was first described by Alpheus Spring Packard, in an 1881 publication by Edward Drinker Cope and himself, titled The Fauna of Nickajack Cave.[2][4] A second species, , was described from the same cave by William Perry Hay in 1901, and was thought to be a junior synonym of C. nickajackensis for a long time.[2] It was now recognised as a separate species distributed from Alabama to Virginia.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group (1996). "Caecidotea nickajackensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T3448A9865322. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T3448A9865322.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Julian J. Lewis (2009). "On the identity of Caecidotea nickajackensis (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 122 (2): 215–224. doi:10.2988/08-47.1. S2CID 85857145.
  3. ^ "Nickajack Cave isopod (Caecidotea nickajackensis) species profile". Environmental Conservation Online System. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. March 28, 2011.
  4. ^ E. D. Cope & A. S. Packard Jr. (1881). "The fauna of the Nickajack Cave". The American Naturalist. 15 (11): 877–882. doi:10.1086/272948. JSTOR 2448794.
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