Identification
Body shape: slightly dorsoventrally flattened
Coloration: variable but many dark in color (shades of brown), mostly solid coloration but some with saddle pattern and mottling
Spines: cervical spines absent but may be cervical tubercle(s); branchiostegal spines weak (if present); cephalic spine or tubercle absent
Rostrum: short, blunt, with parallel margins; no marginal spines; acumen small (barely recognizable); corneous tubercle at apex; rounded or squared in shape; possibly excavate or ladel-like dorsally
Areola: open, medium in width
Chelae: generally smooth and large; with one row of 5-7 tubercles along mesial margin of palm; moderately developed dorsolongitudinal ridges on fingers; slight pinch both dorsally and ventrally at base of fixed finger; absense of setae between fingers; fingers gaping in large adults (particularly form I males)
Other characteristics:
- eyes somewhat small; suborbital angle acute or nearly so; tuberculate carapace
- form I male gonopod: terminal elements short; corneous central projection truncated and with subapical notch; mesial process and central projections with space between them (shaped like crescent wrench); mesial process bulbous and tapering to point
Range
“New Brunswick, Canada, to northern Georgia, and eastern parts of Kentucky and Tennessee to the Atlantic Ocean; restricted to the mountains and foothills in South Carolina and Georgia” (Hobbs Jr., 1989)
“Blue ridge, Ridge, and Valley provinces, Tennessee” (Williams & Bivens, 1996)
Habitat
“mostly lotic habitats, but occasionally frequenting ponds and often burrowing along streams and in seepage areas” (Hobbs Jr., 1989)
“small to medium size Blue Ridge streams (…up to 1,180 meters elevation)…” (Williams & Bivens, 1996)
“Waters ranging from springs to medium sized streams and lentic environments. More common in springs and smaller streams. Troglophile. Tertiary burrower.” (Bouchard, 1974)
Season
Present year round; Breeds in late summer & fall
Remarks
A species complex containing multiple proposed subspecies (C. b. bartonii, C. b. cavatus, C. b. carnirostris); wide variation in characteristics;
Print References
Bouchard, R. W. 1974. Geography and ecology of crayfishes of the Cumberland plateau and Cumberland mountains, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Part I. The genera Procambarus and Orconectes
Hobbs, H.H. Jr. 1989. An illustrated checklist of the American crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology no. 480. 236 pp.
Williams, C.E., and R.D. Bivens. 1996. An annotated list of crayfishes (Decapoda: Cambaridae) of Tennessee.
