Biology Commons^™

Conservation Assessment And Habitat Notes For Three Rare Alabama Crayfishes: Cambarus Cracens, Cambarus Scotti, And Cambarus Unestami, Stephanie L. Kilburn, Christopher A. Taylor, Guenter Schuster

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Over seventy percent of the world's freshwater crayfish species are found within the United States, and much of this diversity is concentrated in the southeastern United States. Yet many of these species remain understudied. Of particular interest is the conservation status of these understudied taxa. We conducted fieldwork in 2011 across northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia to review the occurrence, habitat, and in sonic cases, local population densities of three crayfish species (Cambarus scotti, C. unestami, and C. cracens) to determine current distributions in relation to historical surveys. All three species occur in flowing small to medium-sized streams with firm …