Orconectes sheltae

Orconectes sheltae, the Shelta Cave crayfish,^[1] is a small, freshwater crayfish endemic to Alabama in the United States. It is a cave-dwelling species known from only one cave, Shelta Cave in Madison County, Alabama. This cave is also home to O. australis and Cambarus jonesi.^[1]

Orconectes sheltae
Male
Female
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Family:	Cambaridae
Genus:	Orconectes
Species:	O. sheltae
Binomial name
Orconectes sheltae J. E. Cooper and M. R. Cooper, 1997

It was first discovered in 1963, before being formally described in 1997. The last cave survey to successfully locate the species was in 1988, and therefore it was considered as being extinct for over 30 years until its rediscovery in 2019.^[3]