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The Midwest Region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Find a location near you
Endangered Species ProgramConserving and restoring threatened and endangered species and their ecosystems
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Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (Antrobia culveri)
![]() Photo by David Ashley
Status: Endangered, listed August 14, 2002 Critical Habitat Designated June 28, 2011 (PDF)
Habitat: Tumbling Creek in Tumbling Creek cave in Taney County
Lead Region: 3
Region 3 Lead Office: ColumbiaES, Missouri Field Office
Range: Missouri
The tiny Tumbling Creek cavesnail lives in one cave system in Missouri. Since 1974, its numbers have declined by 99%. Concern over dramatic population declines led to periodic counts by Dr. Ashley of Missouri Western State University beginning in 1996 and continuing to the present. The census results led to the emergency listing of the snail as endangered on December 27, 2001 and final listing as endangered on August 14, 2002.
Animals like the Tumbling Creek cavesnail that can live in cave environments are often highly adapted to that environment and as a result are not flexible in their tolerance of environmental changes. Declines or loss of these animals indicate a change in the cave ecosystem that they cannot tolerate. Often this change is degraded water quality. Above-ground land uses that affect water quality are being investigated as a source of this snail's population decline.
Life HistoryLife history, Ecology and Regulatory Information Determination of Endangered Status for the Tumbling Creek Cavesnail - PDF file of the Federal Register Notice (August 14, 2002)
Tumbling Creek Cavesnail Fact Sheet (June 2010)
Species Profile (links to National USFWS website)
Photo (high resolution)
Critical Habitat DesignationFinal Critical Habitat DesignationNews Release (June 27, 2011): U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Designates Critical Habitat
Federal Register Final Rule (June 28, 2011): Designation of Critical Habitat for Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (15-page PDF)
Tumbling Creek Cavesnail: Final Critical Habitat Designation Questions and Answers (June 28, 2011)
Final Economic Analysis of Critical Habitat Designation for the Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (March 15, 2011)
Critical Habitat Economic Analysis Memorandum: Summary of Findings (June 28, 2011)
Conservation and RecoveryTumbling Creek Cave Foundation - - Protecting the Cave and Its Ecosystem - links to an external website
February 2014 - Tumbling
Creek Cavesnail 5-Year Review 25-page PDF
September 22, 2003 - Tumbling Creek Cavesnail Recovery Plan 108-page PDF; 3.5MB PDF
Federal Register Notice of Availability - Approved Recovery Plan for the Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (Antrobia culveri) Sept. 22, 2003
Midwest Endangered Species Home
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Last updated:
March 12, 2018
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