Crayfish - Cambarus - BugGuide.Net

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Copyright © 2012 Kelly Fiegle

Crayfish - Cambarus

Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, USA
May 29, 2012
Size: Roughly 6" nose to tail

I was waving goodbye to my hubby as he left for work, and saw something crawling in the middle of the road. At first I thought it might be a baby bird that had fallen from a tree, but upon closer inspection I found out it was this crawdad. He/she was crawling in a straight line right down the middle of the road! The nearest water source is a creek in our back yard a couple hundred feet away. Could this be a Northern Clearwater Crayfish (Orconectes propinquus)? Is there any way to tell whether it is a male or a female? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Contributed by Kelly Fiegle on 31 May, 2012 - 6:01am
Last updated 28 December, 2012 - 4:40am

Moved

Moved from Crayfishes.

… metrioptera, 25 June, 2012 - 7:21am

Cambarus

This is a species of Cambarus.

The taxonomy on Cambarus is still a bit of a mess being sorted out, but based on the following: specimen size, the open areola, the double row of tubercles on the mesial margin on the palm of the chelae, the well developed dorsolatitudinal ridges on the dactyl, the presence of a suborbital angle, and the appearance of the rostrum - I would say this is probably Cambarus robustus.

As to the sex, I'd have to see the underside to see if either gonopods (male organ) or an annulus ventralis (female organ) was present.

… Jason D. Roberts, 25 June, 2012 - 1:15am

Thanks, Jason!

:)

… Kelly Fiegle, 25 June, 2012 - 12:09pm

I have noticed

Sometimes crayfish will crawl right out of the water and walk away. But I can`t help with ID.

… Stephen Tapsak, 31 May, 2012 - 7:09am

Thanks for commenting

We've lived here 14 years, and the only other time I've seen a crayfish was after a freak rainstorm when we had nearly 10" of rain in one night. Do you have any ideas as to where it might have been walking to? (or away from?) Looking for a mate? A food source? A new place to live?

… Kelly Fiegle, 1 June, 2012 - 1:48pm

No

I have no clue why they do that.

… Stephen Tapsak, 1 June, 2012 - 10:02pm

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