Classification: Special Concern
National Range: “headwaters of the Hiwassee River in Towns County, Georgia, and Clay County, North Carolina” (Hobbs Jr. 1989)
NC Physiographic Region(s): southwestern mountains
River Basin(s): upper Hiwassee (headwaters)
Adult Habitat: “streams” (Hobbs Jr. 1989); “very swift, clear water flowing over a bed of sand and rocks; although occurring in riffle areas, the species is most common in the rocky areas between riffles, under rocks, and in debris trapped by the rocks; this apparently allows it to partition the habitat with the sympatric C. bartonii.” (NHP ICAS 1999)
Reproductive Season: spring and fall; extended
Species associates: collected alone or with C. bartonii, (P.) brimleyorum, C. (P.) parrishi, C. (C.) sp. A.
Conservation status: state-listed as Special Concern in North Carolina (J.E. Cooper in Clamp 1999); considered by Taylor et al. (1996) to be Endangered
Identification references: Hobbs Jr. 1989, Hobbs 1991; also see description by J.E. Cooper in Clamp 1999.
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.
Credit NCWRC for all photos.