Zoogeography, taxonomy, and conservation of West Virginia's Ohio River floodplain crayfishes (Decapoda, Cambaridae)AuthorLoughman, Zachary J.AuthorSimon, Thomas P.textZooKeys201174178http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.74.808journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.74.8081313-2970-74-1Cambarus (Cambarus) carinirostris Hay, 1914Cambarus bartonii carinirostrisHay 1914
: 384.
Taylor et al. 1996
:29.
Cambarus (Cambarus) bartoni carinirostrisOrtmann 1931
:107.
Cambarus (Cambarus) bartonii carinirostrisHobbs 1969
: 109, fig. 19m;
1974b
:11, fig. 24;
1989
:13, fig. 30. Thoma 1982:875.
Thoma and Jezerinac 1982
: 136.
Jezerinac et al. 1995
:76-83, fig. 35
A-
35H.
Cambarus (Cambarus) carinirostrisThoma and Jezerinac 1999
: 97, fig 2,
A-C
.
Loughman et al. 2009
:226. Loughman 2010:39, fig. 36.
Cambarus carinirostrisTaylor et al. 2007
:382.
Diagnosis.Rostrum broad, margins thickened and parallel, terminating in a 90° angle cephalically to form acumen; acumen consisting of a single upturned spiniform tubercle; median carina absent in floodplain populations; postorbital ridges truncate, cephalic margin with a weak tubercle; cephalothorax slightly flattened dorsoventrally in profile; 2-5 punctations across narrowest region of areola; branchiostegal region moderately punctate, with small tubercles; chelae broad and robust; mesial surface of palm with a single row of 5-7 adpressed tubercles; two prominent subpalmar tubercles present; enlarged 3rd tubercle on mesial surface of fixed finger of propodus; first form gonopods contiguous at base, with 2 terminal elements bent 90° to base; central projection with subapical notch; total length of central projection equal to length of mesial process; mesial process bulbous, truncating distally; second form gonopod non-corneous and blunt; annulus ventralis rhomboid in shape, embedded shallowly in sternum and movable.Color in life.Carapace dorsally brown, beige, or pink; rostrum margins red to reddish brown; chelae olivaceous green to brown; dactyl and propodus tubercles cream or yellow; pereiopods white, cream, or yellowish gray, rarely light blue; abdomen terga dorsally brown or beige, bordered in crimson; ventral surfaces cream or white.Specimens examined.Cambarus carinirostris
were collected from four counties at eight locations. Localities and demographics are listed below.
BROOKE COUNTY: Cross Creek at entrance to Bruin Drive adjacent to Brooke High School, 40.306442 -80.5997; 4 September 2005 - (WLU 05090401), 2 II♂. RT 2 crossing of nameless tributary 2.27 km (1.41 mi) S of Beech Bottom, 40.23163 N / 80.6523 W; 28 June 2005 - (WLU 05072801), 2 II♂. HANCOCK COUNTY: Hardin Run 0.81 km (0.5 mi) from CR 2-7/RT 2 intersection on CR 2-7,
40.533314
-80.60326; 23 August 2005 - (WLU 0508230), 1 I♂, 2 II♂, 2 ♀. MARSHALL COUNTY: Boggs Run at RT 2 crossing, 40.02481 N / 80.72577 W; 28 July 2005 - (WLU 05072801), 1 II♂, 1♀. Long Run at Long Run/Fish Creek confluence, 39.805878 -80.8052; 20 July 2005 - (WLU 05072002), 3 ♀. Nameless tributary at RT 2 crossing adjacent to Columbia Chemical operations, 39.85933 -80.79305; 28 July 2005 - (WLU 05072803), 6 I♂, 1 ♀. WETZEL COUNTY: Proctor Creek at RT 2 crossing, 39.70037 -80.81791; 9 July 2008 - (WLU
08070901
), 5 II♂, 1 ♀. RT 2 crossing of nameless tributary at Marshall/Wetzel County line, 39.720192 -80.82281; 20 July 2005 - (WLU 05072001), 1 II♂.
Distribution.Cambarus carinirostris
ranges from central West Virginia north through the Monongahela River system in West Virginia and Pennsylvania and the Allegheny River system in Pennsylvania and New York (
Thoma and Jezerinac 1999
).The western extent of
Cambarus carinirostris
is the Flushing escarpment in eastern Ohio (
Thoma and Jezerinac 1999
).
Cambarus carinirostris
were collected only from the northern basins along the floodplain, including Upper Ohio North, Upper Ohio South, and Middle Ohio North (Figure 6). Within the Middle Ohio North basin it was collected in the extreme northern regions of the basin. The southern limit of this
species'
range in the floodplain is Proctor Creek, Wetzel County.
Cambarus (Cambarus) bartonii cavatusHay
, 1902 replaces this species in Fishing Creek. The distribution of
Cambarus carinirostris
is the same as reported by
Jezerinac et al. (1995)
.
Figure 6.
Cambarus carinirostris
and
Cambarus bartonii cavatus
distribution along the West Virginia portion of the Ohio River floodplain
Morphometrics.Cambarus carinirostris
is a moderate sized crayfish. Mean TCL was 29.1 mm (n = 29, SE = 5.61). The largest individual was a form I male with a TCL of 39.4 mm collected from Holbert Run in Hancock County. The largest female was also collected from Holbert Run, and had a TCL of 32.1 mm. Morphometric data for
Cambarus carinirostris
is presented in Table 2.
Table 2. West Virginia Ohio River Floodplain
Cambarus carinirostris
morphometrics
Sex
N
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Standard Deviation
Habitat and natural history.Cambarus carinirostris
(Figure 7) inhabits lotic water bodies, with a preference for headwater streams (
Jezerinac et al. 1995
;
Thoma and Jezerinac 1999
). Most specimens collected along the floodplain were taken in first and second order streams. Within these environments,
Cambarus carinirostris
frequented spaces beneath slab boulders, large boulders, and various substrate debris. When the substrate permits,
Cambarus carinirostris
constructs burrow networks in the stream bank (
Jezerinac et al. 1995
;
Loughman et al. 2009
); however, no
Cambarus carinirostris
were collected from burrows in this study.
Loughman et al. (2009)
found that
Cambarus carinirostris
likely created the majority of stream bank burrows in northern West Virginia, given the scarcity of other burrowing species in northern portions of the floodplain.
Figure 7.
Cambarus carinirostris
, Upper Ohio South basin, Ohio County, West Virginia - WLU 05072002
Cambarus carinirostris
also was collected from larger streams, where it inhabits side pools, eddies, and stream margins. The species appears to be limited to marginal habitats in larger ordered streams through competitive exclusion with larger, more aggressive species such as
Orconectes obscurus
(Hagen, 1870), and
Cambarus robustus
Girard, 1852, both of which were collected with
Cambarus carinirostris
. Seasonal data for
Cambarus carinirostris
are presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Seasonal data for West Virginia Ohio River Floodplain
Cambarus
and
Fallicambarus
species.
Species
J
F
M
A
M
Jn
J
A
S
O
N
D
Cambarus (Cambarus) carinirostris
Cambarus (Cambarus) bartonii cavatus
Cambarus (Procambarus) robustus
Cambarus (Tubericambarus) thomai
Fallicambarus (Cambarus) fodiens
Conservation status within study area.Cambarus carinirostris
populations along the floodplain are stable and do not warrant special conservation action.