Longnose Crayfish
Scientific Name: Cambarus H. longirostris
Classification: Nongame Fish - Crustacean
Glossary
References
Abundance
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Detailed Information
National Range: “Tennessee River Basin upstream from below the mouth of the Sequatchie River: in Georgia,Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. Introduced into the headwaters of the Savannah River in South Carolina” (Hobbs Jr. 1989); “Blue Ridge, Ridge, and Valley provinces, Tennessee. Tennessee River system from Hardin County upstream to Knox County” (Williams and Bivens 1996).
NC Physiographic Region(s): mountains
River Basin(s): French Broad
Adult Habitat: “rocky segments of streams” (Hobbs Jr. 1989); “small streams to rivers, usually found in riffle areas”(Williams and Bivens 1996).
Reproductive Season: n/a
Species associates: C. (C.) bartonii, C.(P.) robustus, O. (P.) forceps, O (C.) erichsonianus
Conservation status: not protected
Identification references: Hobbs Jr. 1989, Hobbs Jr. 1991
Taxonomic Description:
- body shape: slightly dorsoventrally flattened
- coloration: n/a
- spines: cervical spines/tubercles, branchiostegal spines absent
- rostrum: thickened margins; lacking marginal spines but notched in appearance; smallish in size; concave or ladel-like; with corneous tubercle at apex
- areola: wide
- chelae: fingers with poorly defined dorsolongitudinal ridges;gap between fingers; long setae at base of fixed finger but restricted to this area and not present on mesial margin of fixed finger
- other characteristics: eyes well developed; suborbital angle acute
- form I male gonopod: central projection corneous, truncated,and with a subapical notch; mesial process inflated at base and tapering
Regulations
According to NC General Statue and NCWRC Regulation, it is unlawful to stock any fish (including shellfish and crustaceans) into public waters without a WRC permit. It is also unlawful to transport, purchase, possess, or sell any live individuals of virile crayfish (Orconectes (Gremicambarus) virilis), rusty crayfish (Orconectes (Procericambarus) rusticus), Australian “red claw” crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) or other species of “giant” crayfish species.
Illustrations
Illustrations are reproduced with the permission of the Smithsonian Institution Press. We are grateful to them for allowing us to provide this useful information with the other materials provided herein. We also wish to recognize the tremendous contribution to crayfish biology by the author/artist, the late Horton H. Hobbs Jr.
The following illustration is reproduced from:
Hobbs Jr., H. H. 1989. An illustrated checklist of the American crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, Number 480:1-236.
