Caves and their Faunas in Florida and South Georgia 



1956-1960, and then moved on to the Department of Zoology at the 

 U.S. National Museum of Natural History in 1962. Although retired 

 from the Smithsonian since 1984, he retains his emeritus status there 

 and continues to pursue his studies on the systematics of cray- 

 fishes, ostracods, and other crustaceans. Between 1940-1942, Hobbs 

 described Cambarus (=Procambarus) lucifugus lucifugus, Cambarus 

 {-Procambarus) lucifugus alachua, Cambarus (=Procambarus) 

 pallidus, Troglocambarus maclanei, and Cambarus cryptodytes 

 (Hobbs 1940fl, 1941, 1942a). His collections of other cave organisms 

 from Alachua County caves led to the descriptions of the isopod Asellus 

 (=Caecidotea) hobbsi (Maloney 1939) and the amphipod Crangonyx 

 hobbsi (Shoemaker 1941). Hobbs' early crayfish studies culminated 

 with the publication of his treatise Crayfishes of Florida (Hobbs \942b). 

 This book continues to be the single most important reference on the 

 state's crayfish fauna. 



Post-Hobbs Period and the Florida Speleological Society (FSS) 

 (1946-1969) — Little activity occurred in Florida biospeleology im- 

 mediately following Hobbs' departure from the state. In 1954, Pirkle 

 and Babb obtained a specimen of Procambarus pallidus from a well 

 at Four O'Clock Church (Fort Clark) in Alachua County. Between 

 1952-1954, Robert B. Cumming, while an undergraduate student at 

 the University of Florida, collected troglobitic crustaceans. His Florida 

 cave collections included Troglocambarus maclanei from Squirrel Chimney 

 and Sweet Gum caves in 1953 and 1954, respectively; Procambarus 

 lucifugus and Procambarus pallidus from Eichelberger Cave in 1952; 

 and the first specimen (a female) of Palaemonetes cummingi from 

 Squirrel Chimney in Alachua County in 1953 (Chace 1954). The presence 

 of Procambarus pallidus in Eichelberger Cave later was questioned 

 by Franz and Lee (1982) because this locality is 40 km from the next 

 closest documented site, and no other specimens of this crayfish have 

 been collected from caves in the vicinity of Eichelberger Cave before 

 or since Cumming's specimens were obtained. Eichelberger Cave has 

 been destroyed by quarrying activities. Franz and Lee (1982) suggested 

 that the collection had been mixed accidentally, and the Procambarus 

 pallidus specimens actually were collected elsewhere. Search should 

 be continued for the species in Marion County. 



A second inventory of Florida and south Georgia caves began in 

 1949 with the establishment of a caving club in Gainesville. The survey 

 was expanded to include biological and paleontological surveys when 

 the club became a University of Florida student grotto of the National 

 Speleological Society in 1952. 



