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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Crustaceans (Crustacea) » Malacostracans (Malacostraca) » Eucarida (Crabs, Crayfish, Shrimp, etc.) (Eucarida) » Crabs, Crayfishes, Lobsters, Prawns, and Shrimp (Decapoda) » Crayfishes and Lobsters (Astacidea) » Crayfish (Astacoidea) » Cambaridae » Orconectes » Subgenus Gremicambarus (Orconectes Subgenus Gremicambarus) » Virile Crayfish (Orconectes virilis)
Photo#353100
Crayfish - Orconectes virilis
Copyright © 2009 tom murray

Crayfish - Orconectes virilis
Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
May 19, 2006
Taken from the Nashua River.
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by tom murray on 18 November, 2009 - 8:43pm
Last updated 22 March, 2010 - 11:28pm

Moved
Moved from Orconectes.
… Eric Moody, 22 March, 2010 - 11:28pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Crayfishes.
… Eric Moody, 19 November, 2009 - 8:11pm login or register to post comments

Orconectes
Massachusetts has three species: O. limosus, O. propinquus, and O. virilis.
… Eric Moody, 19 November, 2009 - 8:00pm login or register to post comments

 
O. virilis?
Checking out the 3 species in Massachusetts, O. virilis's habitat is lentic and lotic situations, while the other 2 are streams and rocky lake edges. The Nashua River where this came from is very slow moving, and muddy with scattered rocks.
In the future, would it be better to photograph the crayfish out of the water?
… tom murray, 20 November, 2009 - 12:04pm login or register to post comments

 
the best way (for me at least
the best way (for me at least) to be get a good ID is to see the underside of the tail region. Especially for Orconectes, the swimmerets are useful in IDing. Other people know their species well enough that they could probably tell based on these images, but unfortunately I am not one of them.
… Eric Moody, 20 November, 2009 - 7:00pm login or register to post comments

 
Swimmerets
Eric, that's good to know. Now I'll make sure to photograph the underside of the tail. And I'm guessing in water would show the spinnerets the best.
… tom murray, 20 November, 2009 - 8:30pm login or register to post comments

 
virilis
It's been a while, but I've been getting more familiar with crayfish IDs and I can say that you are right in guessing that this is O. virilis, believed to be a non-native in MA.
… Eric Moody, 22 March, 2010 - 11:28pm login or register to post comments

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