Caves and their Faunas in Florida and South Georgia 59 



The Withlacoochee Assemblage definitely is known from only 

 one locality (Sweet Gum Cave) on the east slope of the (southern) 

 Brooksville Ridge. A second record (cave 23.3 km north of Weekiwachee) 

 was listed in Hobbs (1942Z?) from Hernando County, but its specific 

 location remains unknown. The unique Procambarus lucifugus lucifugus 

 is reported from both sites. The directions listed with the Hernando 

 specimens, if taken literally, places the locality near the Citrus-Hernando 

 county line, probably near Chassahowitzka in Citrus County, on the 

 west side of the (southern) Brooksville Ridge. This area has low 

 relief, and any cave would be flooded and would likely function as a 

 spring, such as the Chassahowitzka Springs group near the town with 

 the same name (see Rosenau et al. 1977). However, if the collector's 

 directions were slightly off and the cave was actually northeast of 

 Weekiwachee, then the locality would fall on the eastern side of the 

 Brooksville Ridge, within 6 km of Sweet Gum Cave. More effort is 

 needed to locate appropriate caves along the (southern) Brooksville 

 Ridge, particularly in the vicinity of the Citrus-Hernando county line, 

 to resolve the Withlacoochee Assemblage's actual geographic extent. 



The final assemblage occurs in the Gulf Coastal Lowlands in 

 southwestern Hernando and northwestern Pasco counties. The area 

 lies on the west side of the (southern) Brooksville Ridge, between the 

 towns of Weekiwachee and Hudson. A sighting of a small Troglo- 

 cambarus-likt crayfish in Knights Sink at Lake Tarpon suggests that 

 this assemblage's geographic range actually might extend as far south 

 as northern Pinellas County. It includes the unique Procambarus 

 leitheuseri. All of the known localities occur in a small coastal limestone 

 strip subdued in part by marine terrace deposits, between the 0.6-m (2 

 ft) and 9.1-m (30 ft) contour lines (Wetterhall 1965). Troglobites in 

 this assemblage have been recovered from several deep sinks and 

 springs associated with the ridge terrace (Die Polders) and from a 

 spring (Black Hole) in a coastal salt marsh. 



St. Johns River Fauna 



Species List — *Caecidotea sp. 2, '^Procambarus acherontis, *P. 

 attiguus, *P. delicatus, *P. morrisi, ^Troglocambarus sp. The St. Johns 

 River Fauna is still incompletely known, and more new taxa are expected 

 as divers penetrate unexplored karst windows and springs along the St. 

 Johns and lower Oklawaha rivers. There are two related assemblages 

 of troglobites within this fauna, one focusing on a small karst area 

 along the Wekiva River in the Orlando metropolitan area and the other 

 occurring along the west shore of Lake George, Alexander Spring Run, 

 and the lower Oklawaha River. No species have been found in the 



