The only locality known to contain shrimp in the Turnhole Spring Groundwater Basin, Snake River in Lee Cave, is located within Mammoth Cave National Park. The majority of this basin, however, is located on private lands south of the park. Ganter Cave, Running Branch Cave, and McCoy Blue Spring are all on the north side of the Green River, which bisects Mammoth Cave National Park, while remaining basins are on the south side of the river. Localities from which shrimp have been collected, observed, or reported have not been mapped with sufficient precision to allow the direct calculation of population densities. It is, however, possible to estimate relative population densities over a section of passage known to contain shrimp.
Population densities appear to be highly variable.
The shrimp has specific habitat requirements, and is adapted to a highly specialized and restricted environment. This environment consists of the parameters characteristic of the cave systems in the Mammoth Cave National Park region. The caves are extensive in development and include both complex networks of interconnected and active underground streams and cover a large basin influenced by surface activities, including both natural and human-induced events. Natural events, primarily precipitation, greatly influence the underground environment through direct input of organics, detritus, and other food items that form the base of the food web for the cave system. In an ecological context, the cave system is thought to represent a very unique and relatively simple ecosystem since boundaries to the system are well-defined.