Cambarus_bartonii
Cambarus bartonii
Species of crayfish
Cambarus bartonii is a species of crayfish native to eastern North America, where it is called the common crayfish[3] or Appalachian brook crayfish.[2]
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Cambarus bartonii was the first crayfish to be described from North America, when Johan Christian Fabricius published it under the name Astacus bartonii in his 1798 work Supplementum entomologiae systematicae.[4] The locality where his specimen was captured is not known, but is thought to be near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3]
Cambarus bartonii lives in fast–flowing, cool, rocky streams as well as shallow lakes,[5] and is found in the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, and in the United States from Maine to Alabama.[2] In the south of its range, C. bartonii is restricted to the Appalachian Mountains and their foothills.[3]
Colouration is usually plain dark brown, although mottling is occasionally seen, as is a saddle-shaped marking.[6]
Several subspecies of C. bartonii have been recognised, but it is unclear how advisable this is, and work is ongoing to determine patterns of infraspecific variation.[7]
Cambarus bartonii is included as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]