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Cambarus dubius

Faxon, 1884

Upland Burrowing Crayfish

G5Secure Found in 12 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.107344
Element CodeICMAL07010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderDecapoda
FamilyCambaridae
GenusCambarus
Concept Reference
Hobbs, H. H., Jr. 1989. An Illustrated Checklist of the American Crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 480:1-236.
Taxonomic Comments
Z.J. Loughman, R.F. Thoma, J.W. Fetzner Jr. and G.W. Stocker formed a working group in 2011 to study the Cambarus dubius species complex. Using a combination of both molecular and morphological approaches, they have begun describing new species from this complex. As of 2016, Cambarus dubius has been redescribed with a narrow circumscription, populations in Meadow and Greenbrier River basins in West Virginia are now recognized as C. pauleyi and populations in Lewis County, Kentucky are now recognized as C. adustus (Loughman et al. 2015. 2016).

This broader concept is retained in this database until the remaining populations in the original concept have been described.
Conservation Status
Review Date2009-07-01
Change Date1996-02-19
Edition Date2009-07-01
Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J.
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
This species is widespread in the southern Appalchians and, despite likely being a species complex, is still secure and common throughout its range and tolerates a wide range of habitat conditions. There are no known global threats.
Range Extent Comments
It is known from western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, northwestern North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee (Hobbs, 1989) and into western Maryland (Kilian et al., 2010).
Occurrences Comments
In Kentucky, it is generally distributed in the southeast and is known from the Kentucky, Licking, Cumberland, and Big Sandy River drainages (Taylor and Schuster, 2004). In Maryland, it is the most widespread burrowing species in the Appalachian Plateau region (western part of the state only) (Killian et al., 2010) and is historically known from Prince Georges Co. along the Fall Line between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain (Meredith and Schwartz, 1960); and is considered stable in the state. In West Virginia there are different phenotypes (possibly different species?) with populations in the Allegheny Mountains differing from those in other parts of the state; but the species occurs statewide in almost every drainage (Loughman and Welsh, 2010). In North Carolina, it is relatively widely distributed in the French Broad, Watauga, New, upper Catawba, Broad, and upper Yadkin-Pee Dee river basins including most recently in 35 sites including 7 counties in the French Broad, Broad, and Catawba River basins where it was previously unknown (Simmons and Fraley, 2010).
Threat Impact Comments
This species faces few threats.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Cambarus dubius can be found in burrows, in seepage areas near streams (Cooper and Braswell 1995), wet areas such as springs, seeps, roadside ditches, stream and creek banks and run-off areas (Jezerinac et al. 1995). Cambarus dubius is a primary burrower that builds large and complex chambers (Jezerinac et al. 1995). Loughman (2010) noted that disturbed habitats (yards and roadside ditches) were used but highest densities occurred in centers of forested seeps with surface behavior positively correlated to relative humidity and burrows are used in conjunction with a myriad of other organisms. In North Carolina, burrows were found along banks of small streams, wetland seeps, and up to 50 m from surface water bodies in yards and damp wooded areas (burrow depth varied from 15 cm to 1 m with deeper burrows located farther from surface water bodies and chimneys usually present at the burrow entrance from a large mud pile to a more developed chimney approximately 15 cm in height); were highly branched, with as many as 5 surface entrances (Simmons and Fraley, 2010).

Reproduction

In Tera Alta, West Virginia, mating likely occurs during fall, winter, and spring with surface activity beginning late March adn April following seasonal warming but the presence of females with neonates in April indicates egg extrusion and hatching during fall or winter months (Loughman, 2010) and perental females tolerated neonates for months after detachment (in one case from April-October). Dewees (1972) observed multiple demographics and sexes within a single burrow as well. Jezerinac et al. (1995) did not observe both sexes within individual burrows but did observe neonates in burrows with females. In North Carolina, Form I males were collected in June, July, September, and October and ovigerous females were collected in mid-May and early June at 14C (Simmons and Fraley, 2010).
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLAND
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
KentuckyS3Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
VirginiaS2Yes
North CarolinaS3Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
3 - Energy production & miningUnknownUnknownUnknown
3.2 - Mining & quarryingUnknownUnknownUnknown

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Roadless Areas (12)
Kentucky (1)
AreaForestAcres
WolfpenDaniel Boone National Forest2,835
North Carolina (5)
AreaForestAcres
Bald MountainPisgah National Forest11,085
Harper CreekPisgah National Forest7,325
Lost CovePisgah National Forest5,944
South Mills RiverPisgah National Forest8,588
Wilson CreekPisgah National Forest4,863
Tennessee (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bald MountainCherokee National Forest11,743
Virginia (2)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekJefferson National Forest18,274
Little Walker MountainJefferson National Forest9,818
West Virginia (3)
AreaForestAcres
Cranberry AdditionMonongahela National Forest11,123
Cranberry Glades Botanical AreaMonongahela National Forest785
Falls Of Hills CreekMonongahela National Forest6,925
References (11)
  1. Cooper, J.E. 2010. Annotated checklist of the crayfishes of North Carolina, and correlations of distributions with hydrologic units and physiographic provinces. Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science 126(3):69-76.
  2. Dewees, J.O. 1972. Geographic variation in the primary burrowing crayfishes, Cambarus dubius and Cambarus carolinus in Tennessee with notes on ecology and life history. M.S. Thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. 75 pp.
  3. Hobbs, H. H., Jr. 1989. An Illustrated Checklist of the American Crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 480:1-236.
  4. Kilian, J.V., A.J. Becker, S.A. Stranko, M. Ashton, R.J. Klauda, J. Gerber, and M. Hurd. 2010. The status and distribution of Maryland crayfishes. Southeastern Naturalist 9 (special issue 3):11-32.
  5. Loughman, Z.J. 2010. The ecology of Cambarus dubius (upland burrowing crayfish) in north-central West Virginia. Southeastern Naturalist 9 (special issue 3):217-230.
  6. Loughman, Z.J. and S.A. Welsh. 2010. Distribution and conservation standing of West Virginia crayfishes. Southeastern Naturalist 9 (special issue 3):63-78.
  7. McLaughlin, P. A., D. K. Camp, M. V. Angel, E. L. Bousfield, P. Brunel, R. C. Brusca, D. Cadien, A. C. Cohen, K. Conlan, L. G. Eldredge, D. L. Felder, J. W. Goy, T. Haney, B. Hann, R. W. Heard, E. A. Hendrycks, H. H. Hobbs III, J. R. Holsinger, B. Kensley, D. R. Laubitz, S. E. LeCroy, R. Lemaitre, R. F. Maddocks, J. W. Martin, P. Mikkelsen, E. Nelson, W. A. Newman, R. M. Overstreet, W. J. Poly, W. W. Price, J. W. Reid, A. Robertson, D. C. Rogers, A. Ross, M. Schotte, F. Schram, C. Shih, L. Watling, G. D. F. Wilson, and D. D. Turgeon. 2005. Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Crustaceans. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 31. 545 pp.
  8. Meredith, W.G. and F.J. Schwartz. 1960. Maryland crayfishes. Maryland Department of Research and Education, Educational Series 46:1-32.
  9. Simmons, J.W. and S.J. Fraley. 2010. Distribution, status, and life-history observations of crayfishes in western North Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 9 (special issue 3):79-126.
  10. Taylor, C.A. and G.A. Schuster. 2004. The Crayfishes of Kentucky. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication, 28: viii + 210 pp.
  11. Taylor, C. A., G. A. Schuster, J. E. Cooper, R. J. DiStefano, A. G. Eversole, P. Hamr, H. H. Hobbs III, H. W. Robison, C. E. Skelton, and R. F. Thoma. 2007. A reassessment of the conservation status of crayfishes of the United States and Canada after 10+ years of increased awareness. Fisheries 32(8):371-389.