Molecular and morphological analyses reveal a new hypogean species of amphipod in the genus Crangonyx Bate, 1859 (Crustacea: Crangonyctidae) within the floridanus species complex, from Suwannee County, Florida

ABSTRACTCrangonyx stinei sp. n. is described from Peacock Springs Cave, in Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park, Suwannee County, Florida. Crangonyx stinei sp. n. was collected from the cave benthos via SCUBA cave diving techniques. Molecular analyses of the nuclear 18S and 28S rDNA and mitochondrial 16S rDNA reveal significant phylogenetic differences between C. stinei sp. n. and closely related Crangonyx spp. Crangonyx stinei sp. n. is the sixth member of the floridanus species complex in the State of Florida, but only the second to be described from a hypogean habitat. To determine the biogeographic range of C. stinei sp. n., additional collecting in both epigean and hypogean systems is needed.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:39692E06-EBAA-492B-91FD-20EBB5D5C242KEYWORDS: 18S rDNA28S rDNA16S rDNAcavesFloridan aquiferCrangonyx stinei sp. n. AcknowledgementsWe sincerely thank Rodney J. King, and Nicholas H. Coppock for their assistance with collection efforts. We are grateful to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and to state park rangers and staff at Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park for their courtesy and professionalism. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2023.2247155Additional informationFundingSupport for this project was by Title III funding received from the US Department of Education.