Rusty Crayfish
Orconectes rusticus
Summary 2
The rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus, is a large, aggressive species of freshwater crayfish which is native to the U.S. states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Its range is rapidly expanding in North America, displacing native crayfishes in the process: it is known to have reached New England, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and even Manitoba. The rusty crayfish was first captured in Illinois in 1973, and has...
Diagnostic description 3
Hooks only on 3rd pereiopod of male; rostruim acarinate, acuminate; areola moderately wide; chela heavy; male 1st pleopod as described above.
Distribution 4
Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) The native range was described by Taylor (2000) to include the lower middle Ohio River drainage of central Kentucky, western Ohio, and eastern and central Indiana and the western Lake Erie drainage in southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio. It has been introduced (mostly as fishing bait) across the United States with large populations in Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Taylor and Schuster, 2004; Lodge et al., 2000).
Habitat 5
Habitat Type: Freshwater
Comments: It is a generalist species that inhabits streams, ponds, and lakes with a range of substrates (Thoma and Jezerinac, 2000). This species is tolerant to pollution such as septic tank discharge and organic pollution (Jezerinac et al., 1995). It is also reported as common in fish ponds.
Morphology 6
Rusty crayfish have robust claws unlike other members of the genus Orconectes. They are dark reddish, brown and have dark, rusty spots on each side of the carapace at the base of the cephalothorax.
Range length: 10.2 (high) cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Nature serve conservation status 7
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Reasons: The native range was described by Taylor (2000) to include the lower middle Ohio River drainage of central Kentucky, western Ohio, an deastern and central Indiana and the western Lake Erie drainage in southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio. It has been introduced (mostly as fishing bait) across the United States with large populations in Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Taylor and Schuster, 2004). This species of crayfish is highly invasive and consistently outcompetes other species outside of its native range. It has a generalist nature, an ability dominate and out compete other crayfish species and an expanding range.
Intrinsic Vulnerability: Not intrinsically vulnerable
Environmental Specificity: Broad. Generalist or community with all key requirements common.
Physical description 8
Rusty crayfish have robust claws unlike other members of the genus Orconectes. They are dark reddish, brown and have dark, rusty spots on each side of the carapace at the base of the cephalothorax.
Range length: 10.2 (high) cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Range description 9
This species is native to the Ohio river system, which spreads through the states of: Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Indiana(Taylor et al. 2005). It has an introduced range which includes: Ontario, Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and New Mexico (Taylor et al. 2005).
Thus, the Extent of Occurrence (EOO) of this species has been estimated to exceed 604,000 km2.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Ashour Rehana, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/80355374@N00/2967950426
- Adapted by rkkessler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orconectes_rusticus
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28859349
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28859344
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28859353
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31411635
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28859337
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25066151
- (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34615547
