New Records of the Least Shrew (Cryptotis parva floridana) from Key Largo, Florida

Daniel U. Greene^1,2,*, Michael Gillikin^1,3, Emily Evans¹, and Jeffery A. Gore¹

¹Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 3911 Highway 2321, Panama City, FL 32409. ²Current address - Weyerhaeuser Company, Strategy and Technology, Environmental Research South, Columbus, MS 39701. ³Current address - Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 3377 E. US Highway 90, Lake City, FL 32055. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 20, Issue 2 (2021): 315–318

Abstract
Cryptotis parva (Least Shrew) is an insectivore that is widely distributed across peninsular Florida but has only twice been captured in the Florida Keys, both times on the island of Key Largo, Monroe County. To preliminarily evaluate the presence of Least Shrews, we installed drift fence arrays (cross design) in January and December 2013 at locations near areas with previous observations on North Key Largo. We sampled 4318 trap-nights, with 1276 trap-nights in the first session and 3042 in the second session. In total, we captured 3 individuals at 2 of 3 drift fences. Including our 3 individuals, only 5 Least Shrews have been captured on Key Largo. A more comprehensive effort to survey for shrews across Key Largo and compile unpublished records is needed to determine the species distribution.

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