Cambarus (Cambarus) carinirostris Hay, 1914

Loughman, Zachary J. & Simon, Thomas P., 2011, Zoogeography, taxonomy, and conservation of West Virginia's Ohio River floodplain crayfishes (Decapoda, Cambaridae), ZooKeys 74, pp. 1-78 : 7-10

Cambarus (Cambarus) carinirostris Hay, 1914

Cambarus bartonii carinirostris Hay 1914: 384. Taylor et al. 1996:29.

Cambarus (Cambarus) bartoni carinirostris Ortmann 1931:107.

Cambarus (Cambarus) bartonii carinirostris Hobbs 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) carinirostris Thoma and Jezerinac 1999: 97, fig 2, A–C. Loughman et al. 2009:226. Loughman 2010:39, fig. 36.

Cambarus carinirostris Taylor 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 cavatus Hay, 1902 replaces this species in Fishing Creek. The distribution of Cambarus carinirostris is the same as reported by Jezerinac et al. (1995).

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.

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.

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.

Conservation status within study area.

Cambarus carinirostris populations along the floodplain are stable and do not warrant special conservation action.