Fallicambarus (Creaserinus) fodiens (Cottle, 1863)

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 : 25-29

Fallicambarus (Creaserinus) fodiens (Cottle, 1863)

Astacus fodiens Cottle 1863:217.

Cambarus argillicola Faxon 1884:115.

Cambarus (Bartonius) argillicola Ortmann 1905b:120.

Bartonius argillicola Wiliamson 1907:749.

Cambarus (Cambarus) fodiens Fowler 1912:341.

Cambarus fodiens Huntsman 1915:158, figs. 8f, 9d, 10e, 11a, 12e. Crocker and Barr 1968:129-135, figs. 28, 37, 46, 57, 62, 85.

Cambarus (Bartonius) fodiens Creaser 1931:260, fig. 37.

Fallicambarus (Creaserinus) fodiens Hobbs 1969: 111, fig. 20e; 1972:102, figs 83c, 84b, 85b; 1974:23, fig. 82; 1989:29, fig. 116. Page 1985:422, figs. 155-158. Hobbs and Jass 1988:39-43, figs.30 a– 30n. Jezerinac et al. 1995:180-187, figs. 88 a– 88h. Taylor and Schuster 2004:131-133, figs. 100, 101 A– 101H.

Fallicambarus fodiens Pflieger 1996:66-70, figs, 8 A– 8H. Taylor et al. 1996:30. Taylor et al. 2007:383.

Diagnosis.

Rostrum slightly broad and moderately excavated, deflected ventrally; margins converging to form acumen cephalically with reduced upturned tubercle; postorbital ridge reduced, not terminating in tubercle; cephalothorax dorsolaterally compressed in profile and vaulted; areola obliterated; branchiostegal region devoid of tubercles; chelae diamond shaped; mesial surface of palm with 2 distinct rows of tubercles; dorsalmost row consisting of 6-9 serrate tubercles; second row consisting of 3-6 circular tubercles; basiodactyl row consisting of 5-7 punctations; opposable surface of dactyl with distinct basal notch; junction of dactyl and propodus setiferous; first form gonopods basally contiguous, with 2 terminal elements bent 90° to shaft; central projection of populations on the floodplain possessing distinct subapical notch; total length of central projection equal to mesial process length; mesial process bulbous, truncating distally; second form gonopod non-corneous and blunt; subapical notch absent in second form gonopod; annulus ventralis rhomboid in shape with deep S-shaped sinus and C-shaped fossa; embedded shallowly in sternum, and movable.

Color in life.

Carapace dorsally and laterally tan, brown, reddish brown, or gray; cephalic and branchial region mottled with black or deep grey spots; chelae tan, deep gray, or gray brown; tubercles on chelae cream or light gray; distal region of dactyl and propodus increasingly orange; perieopods green or light grey; abdomen grey or olivaceous brown, with 2 distinct dorsal stripes; ventral surfaces cream or white.

Specimens examined.

Fallicambarus fodiens were collected from two counties at three locations in the current study, as listed below.

CABELL COUNTY: Green Bottom Swamp at Hoeft Marsh Wildlife Management Area, 38.58616 -82.24878; 2 April 2009 - (WLU 09040201), 2 I♂, 2 II♂, 1 O♀, 4♀. MASON COUNTY: Vernal pool complex at RT 2/Lighthouse Gospel Church Road intersection, 38.82201 -82.13136; 17 March 2005 - (WLU 05031707), 1 I♂, 1 ♀; 28 March 2005 - (WLU 05032801), 1 I♂, 3 ♀. Pin oak swamp adjacent to Point Pleasant Moose Lodge in Wagner, 38.833603 -82.12227; 26 February 2004 - (WLU 04022601), 1 II♂, 1 O♀; 26, March 2004 - (WLU 04032601), 3 I♂, 2 ♀; 30 March 2004 - (WLU 04033001), 1 I♂; 12 April 2004 - (WLU 04041202), 1 I♂; 28 April 2004 - (WLU 04042801), 1 II♂, 2 ♀.

Distribution.

Fallicambarus fodiens is a wide-ranging species occurring along the Atlantic Slope in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina east to the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys excluding the majority of the Appalachian Mountains. Northern populations occur along the Great Lakes and in southern Ontario ( Jezerinac et al. 1995). Fallicambarus fodiens were collected from the Lower Ohio Basin and Middle Ohio South Basin (Figure 16). Within the Middle Ohio South, all populations were within one km of the Middle Ohio South/Lower Kanawha basin border. Two previously unknown populations were discovered in Mason County including one adjacent to the Point Pleasant Moose Lodge in Wagner and another in Krodel Park, Point Pleasant. Increased efforts to find this species along the floodplain throughout the Middle Ohio South, Middle Ohio North and Lower Ohio basins were futile.

Jezerinac and Stocker (1987) theorized that Fallicambarus fodiens populations in West Virginia were Marietta River relicts. Currently, the Marietta River Valley is composed of the Kanawha River Valley. This hypothesis does help explain the scarcity of this species along the floodplain. Future survey efforts for Fallicambarus fodiens should focus on wetlands associated with the Kanawha River floodplain. The Moose Lodge wetland and its associated wetlands include that floodplain, which is 0.8 km from the Kanawha River and Ohio River confluence. The Moose Lodge wetland is composed of diverse bottomland forest with multiple ephemeral pools, which possess stable Fallicambarus fodiens populations. Habitat specialization may explain low Fallicambarus fodiens numbers elsewhere since little mature bottomland forests remain along the Ohio River floodplain. Apparently this habitat is needed for West Virginia’s disjunct population of Fallicambarus fodiens to persist.

Morphometrics.

Several animals were observed, but not disturbed due to the rarity of this species in West Virginia. The largest individual was a 40.1 mm TCL form I male collected at the Moose Lodge wetland, Mason County. The largest female collected was 37.3 mm TCL from an ephemeral pool complex located inside Krodel Park, Mason County. Mean carapace length for this species was 34.3 mm (n = 26, SE = 8.67). Morphometrics data for Fallicambarus fodiens is presented in Table 7.

Habitat and natural history.

Fallicambarus fodiens (Figure 18) in West Virginia is an ephemeral pool specialist. Within these ecosystems, colonies were associated with either lowland forest environments or open, wet fields. Similar habitat preferences for this species has been observed across its range ( Guiasu 2007; Norrocky 1991; Taylor and Schuster, 2004). With the exception of the Greenbottom Swamp population, ephemeral systems are preferred over larger, more permanent water bodies. Fallicambarus fodiens colonies typically consist of 5-10 burrows for every 1 m2 of substrate. Within these colonies, the sex ratio of captured individuals was 1:1 male to female. Fallicambarus fodiens burrow morphology is simple, with the majority of excavated burrows consisting of a central shaft ranging in depth from 0.3 m to 1.0 m. One or two short ancillary tunnels often were present radiating from central shafts. These ancillary tunnels often are full of debris. Resting chambers usually were present at the terminus of these shafts, with either few or no ancillary tunnels radiating from them.

Several Fallicambarus fodiens females (n = 7) were collected carrying instars and eggs in February and March 2004 and 2005 (Figure 18). Egg extrusion along the floodplain occurred throughout the months of February and March. By early April, females were carrying first stage instars, with 4th stage instars observed by late April. Jezerinac et al. (1995) also observed ovigerous females in February and March in West Virginia. Ovigerous females have been collected February through April in Illinois ( Page 1985), Kentucky ( Taylor and Schuster 2004), and Michigan ( Creaser 1931). All adult males captured during this study were form I. Given that females were ovigerous in early spring and males enter the winter season as form I, mating in this species likely occurs in the fall or winter along the floodplain.

Fallicambarus fodiens females carrying instars were observed nocturnally foraging in open water on 18 March 2004 and 4 April 2009 in Greenbottom Wildlife Management Area. Several individuals (n = 8) were resting or grazing at their burrow entrances on periphyton that had colonized submerged canary grass ( Phalaris canariensis L.). Within the colony burrows were flooded by 15-30 cm of standing water. Instars were observed leaving burrow entrances to graze. Upon provocation, disturbed females stopped moving long enough to allow instars to reattach to their abdomens, then retreated to their burrows. Seasonal data for Fallicambarus fodiens is presented in Table 3. Crayfish associates collected with Fallicambarus fodiens include Cambarus bartonii cavatus , Cambarus thomai , Orconectes virilis , and Procambarus acutus acutus .

Conservation status within study area.

Fallicambarus fodiens warrants conservation attention and is deserving of S1 status. Surveys are needed along the Kanawha River in wetland habitats to determine if this species persists there. Along the floodplain threats to this species’ survival include land use practices and their associated pollutants, hard surface run off, and destruction of bottomland forests.