Classification: Nongame Fish - Crustacean
National Range: “Chattahoochee drainage system from Lumpkin and Hall counties, Georgia, to Lee County, Alabama” (Hobbs Jr. 1989);"on the eastern versant of the Blue Ridge and Chattahoochee River Basin from southern Virginia to Alabama" (Adams 1992, quote from Hobbs Jr., pers. comm. with Adams)
NC Physiographic Region(s): parts of mountains and western piedmont; limits of range unclear
River Basin(s): upper Broad, upper Catawba, Hiwassee, New, upper Yadkin-Pee Dee
Adult Habitat: “streams, usually in riffle areas” (Hobbs 1989); fast-flowing, clear water; fast-flowing, clear water; all substrates but mostly under rocks (larger crayfish under larger rocks); Atlantic slope animals: "restricted to small, shallow, swift streams with rubble and gravel substrates", Mountain animals: "larger, deeper streams with similar but rockier substrates" (Cooper, J. E. in Clamp 1999)
Reproductive Season: late summer, fall (?)
Species associates: many
Conservation status: placed on North Carolina Watch List (W. F. Adams and J. E. Cooper in Clamp 1999); considered by Taylor et al. (1996) as a species of Special Concern (C. howardi (s.s.), which they indicated occurred only in Alabama and Georgia (Chattahoochee River basin)
Identification references: Hobbs Jr. and Hall 1969, Hobbs Jr. 1989, Hobbs Jr. 1991; also see description written by W.F. Adams and J.E. Cooper in Clamp (1999)
Taxonomic Description:
Crayfish Regulations (PDF)
Credit NCWRC for all photos.