Caves and their Faunas in Florida and South Georgia 11 



site in 1974-1975 and collected several series of crayfishes. They 

 were later described as Procambarus franzi (Hobbs and Lee 1976). 

 Subsequent collections at Hell Hole and Trade Wind Farm's Sink 

 extended the known range of this species several kilometers south 

 toward the Reddick area. Chert Cave and Sunday Sink, south of Ocala, 

 were found to have large populations of Procambarus lucifugus intergrades 

 and Troglocambarus maclanei. The latter was located as a result of 

 surveys associated with the Cross-Florida Barge Canal study. Ray 

 Ashton and Pat Sawyer Ashton collected the first specimens of Procambarus 

 lucifugus intergrades from Ocala Caverns in 1976. 



The momentum established in the 1970s continued into the 1980s 

 and 1990s. Additional discoveries led to the descriptions of Procambarus 

 leitheuseri in Hernando and Pasco counties (Franz and Hobbs 1983), 

 Procambarus delicatus in Lake County (Hobbs and Franz 1986), Procambarus 

 morrisi in Putnam County (Hobbs and Franz 1990), Procambarus attiguus 

 in Marion County (Hobbs and Franz 1992), and Dasyscias franzi in 

 Washington County (Thompson and Hershler 1991). During this period, 

 there were also collections of several crustaceans that still remain 

 unstudied (e.g., two Caecidotea from Orange and Washington counties 

 and a Troglocambarus from Orange County). Recent collections of 

 Steeves' Asellus parvus at Split Sink and Peacock Springs allowed 

 Bowman and Sket to recognize the uniqueness of this isopod for 

 which they erected the new genus Remasellus (Bowman and Sket 

 1985). 



Throughout this period, cavers and divers continued to provide 

 many other important specimens that added tremendously to our knowledge 

 of the distributions of Crangonyx grandimanus, C. hobbsi, Procambarus 

 acherontis, P. horsti, P. lucifugus, P. orcinus, P. pallidus, and Troglocambarus 

 maclanei. Most recently, Buford Pruitt has taken many important voucher 

 specimens of Procambarus lucifugus, P. pallidus and Troglocambarus 

 maclanei in underwater caves of Levy and Hamilton counties. Pruitt 

 also generously purchased and donated Sim's Sink to The Nature 

 Conservancy as a cave crayfish preserve in 1987. 



BIOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT CAVES 



We recorded a total of 267 caves in Florida and south Georgia 

 where biological materials have been recovered (Appendix 1). More 

 than half are concentrated in Alachua (47 caves), Jackson (34 caves), 

 Marion (27 caves), and Suwannee (43 caves) counties (Fig.l). Other 

 biologically significant caves are found in Columbia (15), Levy (11), 

 Lafayette (11), Leon (11), Hamilton (11), Gilchrist (9), Wakulla (8), 

 Citrus (7), Hernando (6), Madison (5), Orange (4), Pasco (4), Seminole 



