Alabama Cave Shrimp - BIO203
Sweet Home Alabama:
When we say "shrimp", we are not referring to the tasty animal in your dinner. That is the organism Penaeus setiferus. We are talking about the real deal! A creepy crawly cave critter that lives in the caves of Alabama.
The Alabama Cave Shrimp, Palaemonias alabamae, is a small, translucent organism (See Form and Function). It is preyed upon by other cave-dwelling organisms, including the southern cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus, and humans have actually had the most detrimental effects on the population sizes of the Alabama Cave Shrimp (See Interactions). This can cause a change in the already limited reproductive success; due to the low number of organisms, removing just one of these individuals may wreak havoc on the fragile population (See Reproduction). The Alabama Cave Shrimp has only been found in five caves, all of which are in Madison County, Alabama (See Habitat). An interesting fact is that the shrimp differ in their morphological features from cave to cave, even though they are so close in proximity (See Facts).
If you are interested at looking at other organisms from our class, please visit the database at the Multiple Organisms Website. This is a wonderful way to quickly explore different types of organisms of your interest that other students have worked hard to develop at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.
To see how this organism is related to you and many other organisms, continue to our Classification page.
Website Last Updated 4/24/2014