Listing Status
- Federal Status: Threatened
- FL Status: Federally-designated Threatened
- FNAI Ranks: G1/S1 (Critically Imperiled)
- IUCN Status: VU (Vulnerable)
Appearance
The Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp is almost completely colorless, with a slight touch of white, and can reach a length of up to 1.3 inches (3.3 centimeters). The body is translucent making its internal organs visible through the exoskeleton. This species also has six dorsal side “teeth” on its rostrum (dorsal extension of the exoskeleton beyond the eyes) (Florida Natural Areas Inventory 2001).
Behavior
Information is extremely limited on the Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp, including what they eat and how they reproduce. A female was recorded as having 35 embryos in the month of July, with hatching occurred 29 days later. Recently hatched larvae are only slightly larger than other surface species in the cave system (Franz 1994).
Habitat
The Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp is endemic to the Squirrel Chimney sinkhole near Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, and has not been found anywhere else.
Threats
The Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp has not been recorded since 1973, which raises fears that it may be extinct (Doonan 2001). The main threat to the Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp is that it is limited to only one sinkhole, which makes the species vulnerable to extinction in the event of a drastic change to the sinkhole’s ecosystem. Degrading ground water quality is also a threat to the cave shrimp. Ground water quality can be degraded by pesticide use, storm water drainage, and septic tank discharge. This is especially a problem presently because the human population of Gainesville has significantly increased in past years (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d.). The redeye chub fish (Notropis harperi) has invaded Squirrel Chimney, and could threaten the cave shrimp by increased predation (Doonan 2001).
Conservation and Management
The Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp is protected as a Threatened species by the Federal Endangered Species Act and as a Federally-designated Threatened species by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule. It was determined that no Federal recovery plan for this species was warranted because it is known only from a single, privately-owned location, and a recovery plan would not further its conservation (USFWS 2008).
References
Doonan, T.J. 2001. Survey of Squirrel Chimney and other selected caves to determine the status of the Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp (Paleomonetes cummingi). Final performance report July 1994-June 1996. September 2001. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, FL.
Florida Natural Areas Inventory. 2001. Field guide to the rare animals of Florida.
https://www.fnai.org/FieldGuide/pdf/Palaemonetes_cummingi.pdf
Franz, R. 1994. Endangered: Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp. Pp. 181-182 in Deyrup, M. and R. Franz (eds.). Rare and endangered biota of Florida. Volume IV. Invertebrates. University Press of Florida.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2008. Squirrel Chimney cave shrimp (Paleomonetes cummingi) 5-year review: summary and evaluation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region, Jacksonville Ecological Services Field Office, Jacksonville, FL.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (n.d.). Squirrel Chimney Cave shrimp (Palaemoetes cummingi).Retrieved May 24, 2011, from North Florida Ecological Services Office:
http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/Species-Accounts/Squirrel-Chimney-Cave-Shrimp 2005.htm