Classification: Nongame Fish - Crustacean
National Range: “From the upper Broad River basin in the northern part of South Carolina westward into North Carolina and Tennessee (south of the French Broad River) almost to the Tennessee River” (Hobbs Jr. 1989); “Blue Ridge province from the French Broad river system south, Tennessee” (Williams and Bivens 1996)
NC Physiographic Region(s): southwestern mountains
River Basin(s): Hiwassee, Little Tennessee
Adult Habitat: “burrows (primary burrower)” (Hobbs Jr. 1989); “primary burrower although occasional specimens are collected in streams; occurs in montaine to sub-montane springs seeps, etc.” (Williams and Bivens 1996); burrows in wetlands or bogs (Cooper and Braswell 1995)
Reproductive Season: n/a
Species associates: n/a
Conservation status: placed on North Carolina Watch List (W.F. Adams and J.E. Cooper in Clamp 1999); considered by Taylor et al. (1996) to be currently stable throughout its range
Identification references: Hobbs Jr. 1989, Hobbs Jr. 1991
Taxonomic Description:
Crayfish Regulations (PDF)
Illustrations are reproduced with the permission of the Smithsonian Institution Press. We are grateful to them for allowing us to provide this useful information with the other materials provided herein. We also wish to recognize the tremendous contribution to crayfish biology by the author/artist, the late Horton H. Hobbs Jr.
The following illustration is reproduced from: Hobbs Jr., H. H. 1989. An illustrated checklist of the American crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, Number 480:1-236.