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Devil Crawfish

Cambarus diogenes

Summary 5

Cambarus diogenes (known as the devil crayfish, chimney crayfish, thunder crawfish or meadow crayfish) is a crayfish that grows to be 11.5 centimetres (4.5 in), not including the claws. It tends to live in wetlands and moist woodlands. They are most active in the summer and spring where they can be found near streams and floodplains near their mud chimney, where they live.

Diagnostic description 6

Dactyl of chela with broad concavity in basal half of opposable margin; areola obliterated and about 40% of TCL; lacking overreaching median spine on inner ramus of uropod; male 1st pleopods as described above.

Distribution 7

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) It is extremely widespread; from the Rockies to southern Canada to New Jersey and throughout the Mississippi River basin and Great Lakes (Hobbs, 1989). Pflieger (1996) lists range as much of the eastern United States east of a line from eastern Texas to central Minnesota, except the Florida peninsula and much of the Appalachians, and westward along the Missouri and Platte Rivers to southern North Dakota, eastern Wyoming and Colorado.

Habitat and ecology 8

Habitat and Ecology

This species is a primary burrower and is found in coastal wetlands, mudflats, wet meadows and marshes (Hobbs 1989, Taylor et al. 2005).It is mainly found in clay substrates (Taylor et al. 2005). It is host to the Ostracod Dactylocythere cryptoteresis (Hobbs and Peters 1993). It can be excavated almost anywhere where the water table is near the surface (Pflieger 1996).
Their burrows usually have mudchimneys, but they are not as deep as the burrows of Fallicambarus fodiens(Taylor et al.2005).

Systems
  • Freshwater

Iucn red list assessment 9


Red List Category
LC
Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version
3.1

Year Assessed
2010

Assessor/s
Cordeiro, J., Jones, T. & Thoma, R.F.

Reviewer/s
Collen, B. & Richman, N.

Contributor/s
Livingston, F., Livingston, F., Soulsby, A.-M., Batchelor, A., Dyer, E., Whitton, F., Milligan, H.T., Smith, J., Lutz, M.L., De Silva, R., McGuinness, S., Kasthala, G., Jopling, B., Sullivan, K. & Cryer, G.

Justification
Cambarus diogenes has been assessed as Least Concern (LC). This species has a wide distribution, utilizes a variety of habitat types and is tolerant to varying ecological conditions. Even though this species is impacted by many threats, these have only been at a localized level and the general abundance of this species is still considered to be secure.

Morphology 10

Devil crayfish are crustaceans related to lobsters (Family Nephropidae) and shrimp (Infraorder Caridea). They have hard exoskeletons that serve as protection from predatory animals. Coloring of these crayfish can vary but they tend to be dark reddish-brown or gray. Bright pastel red and blue individuals have also been found and young crayfish are mostly green, while older individuals are mostly dark brown. Two color variants have been observed in this species, a solid color phase (the most typical) and a striped phase. Devil crayfish resemble miniature lobsters, with spines, ten legs, a rostrum (extending in front of its eyes) with an acumen (pointed apical tip), and a pair of chelae (large claws). Gills are tucked underneath the body. Males differ from females in having a long rostrum with a narrower, more tapered acumen and larger, heavier chelae.

Range length: 40 to 61 mm.

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes shaped differently

Nature serve conservation status 11

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: This species is extremely widespread; from the Rockies to southern Canada to New Jersey and throughout the Mississippi River basin. It is stable an secure (millions of individuals and range > 2,500,000 sq. km) throughout its range.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Not intrinsically vulnerable

Environmental Specificity: Moderate to broad.

Comments: Simon and Morris (2008) found this species to be much more tolerant of high concentrations of sediment contaminants in the Patoka River watershed, Indiana, than aquatic tertiary burrowing species.

Range description 12

This species is wide ranging in the southern half of North America. It is found in Ontario, Canada (the extreme edge of its northern most range), Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky; Delaware, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Maryland, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana , USA (Taylor et al. 2005). The Extent of Occurrence (EOO) of this species has been estimated to exceed 2 million km2.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Lisa Brown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/33695431@N00/3688974908
  2. (c) James W. Beck, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by James W. Beck
  3. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=iz&irn=79445
  4. (c) Lisa Brown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/33695431@N00/268543314
  5. Adapted by rkkessler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambarus_diogenes
  6. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28865771
  7. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28865766
  8. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34352824
  9. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34352821
  10. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31382729
  11. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28865759
  12. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34352822

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(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

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