Faxonius virilis

Based on Crandall and De Grave (2017), the representatives of Orconectes form at least two distinct groups. The nominal group (the "cave Orconectes") form a monophyletic group that is more closely related to members of Cambarus, while the remaining "Orconectes" are more closely related to Barbicambarus, Creaserinus, and other species of Cambarus (Crandall and Fitzpatrick 1996, Fetzner 1996). As the type species of Orconectes, Orconectes inermis Cope, 1872, belongs to the cave-dwelling group, the genus is herein restricted to just those taxa. The surface-dwelling taxa now excluded from Orconectes sensu stricto are herein placed in the resurrected genus Faxonius Ortmann, 1905a, the oldest available name previously considered to be a synonym of Orconectes Cope, 1872.

As a widespread species, with considerable question of its relationship to the morphologically close O. nais, and O.causeyi, there is the possibility that they all represent a single species. Genetic analysis of European populations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands revealed individuals did not belong to any mitochondrial lineage yet recorded in North America but formed a separate clade and a sequenced population from Iowa also represented a new clade (Filipova et al. 2009). Also, the species is very closely related to the newly described Orconectes quinebaugensis (Matthews et al. 2008, Matthews and Warren 2008), and they may be synonymous.

This species is extremely wide ranging and common throughout North America and has been introduced widely, as well.

This species ranges very widely, occurring farther north in Canada than any other crayfish species. Its native range extends as far north as the southern tip of Hudson Bay; southward it occurs from New England to western Montana and through the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio River basins to Oklahoma and northern Arkansas; and it has also been widely introduced outside its native range (Pflieger, 1996). Recently it was discovered in the United Kingdom for the first time in the River Lee system of North London (Ahern et al., 2008).

Horowitz and Flinders (2004) found it to be uncommon (2 of 15 stations) in the Piedmont, Ridge and Valley and Highlands regions of New Jersey. In New York's Hudson River drainage, Smith (1979) added Columbia and Rensselaer Cos., New York. In Maryland, it was first introduced intothe Patapsco River and from five locations near Woodstock (Meredith and Schwartz, 1960), but later expanded throughout the entire Patapsco basin displacing native species (Schwartz et al., 1963), and in the Piedmont where it is the most common species in larger Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay tributaries as well as man-made impoundments in western Maryland (Kilian et al., 2010) with it most recently in the vicinity of Plummers Island (bank of Potomac River), Montgomery Co. (Norden, 2008). It has recently expanded into Idaho (Clark and Lester, 2005). It occurs sympatrically with O. propinquus (introduced) in North Lake, Las Animas Co., Colorado (C. Taylor, pers. comm., August 2010). In Ohio, it is confined to the East Branch of the Chagrin River and a population was recently established at the Hebron Fish Hatchery in Licking Co. (Thoma and Jezerinac, 2000). Jezerinac (1986) lists Geauga and Lakel Cos., Ohio. In West Virginia, it is introduced to the eastern panhandle and southern New River in Summers Co. and Point Pleasant and Ohio River bacwaters, Pleasant Co. plus Summerville Lake in Nicholas Co. and Moncove Lake in Monroe Co. (Loughman and Welsh, 2010). In Missouri, it is the most widely distributed crayfish, occurring over all fo the state except the southeastern Lowlands and parts of the central Ozarks (Pflieger, 1996). In Kansas, it occurs throughout the state (Ghedotti, 1998). In the Neosho River drainage in Kansas, O. neglectus occurs in the eastern one-half of the Spring River drainage whereas O. virilis occurs in the western part outside of the Ozark Plateau (Durbian et al., 1994). Reports for this species in Mississippi are in error (T. Mann, MS NHP, pers. comm., January 2008). Recently it was found at several sites in the Catawba River and tributaries in North Carolina but not extending into South Carolina (Alderman, 2005). It is introduced in North Carolina in Long and Mauney Creeks in Gaston Co., Linville River and White Creek (Lake James tributaries) in Burke Co. (all Caatawba basin) (Simmons and Fraley, 2010). In the Cumberland Plateau it occurs in tributaries of Locust Fork of Black Warrior River and Guntersville Lake (Tennessee River) in Alabama (Bouchard, 1974). In Alabama, it occurs in the Black Warrior, Cahaba, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Tennessee River drainages (Schuster et al., 2008). In Texas, it occurs in pockets of introduction in the San Gabriel River in Williamson Co.; and is also introduced to Chihuahua, Mexico (Johnson and Johnson, 2008). Based on museum records, it has been known in southern New England since about 1935 and has been widely introduced throughout the region to such an extent that today only the southeastern coastal drainage areas (South Shore, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod and the Islands) are still free of it (Smith, 2000). It was recently documented in New Brunswick in the Black River, Kent Co., 300 km east across four watersheds from the nearest western population in the region (McAlpine et al., 2007).It also occurs in the northern portion Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada (Jansen et al., 2009), where it is believed to be native.

There are no threats. In Canada, it is being outcompeted at some sites by invasive crayfish, such as O. rusticus and O. immunis (Jansen et al., 2009).