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Cambarus diogenesdevil crawfish

By Anna Lui

Geographic Range

Devil crayfish live over a wide range, and are perhaps the most widespread of all crayfish in the United States. They have been found in thirty states and the District of Columbia, from Ontario, CA to Texas and from Wyoming to North Carolina, spanning an estimated 2 million km². (Grow and Merchant, 1980; Marlow, 1960)

Habitat

Devil crayfish are burrowing crayfish found primarily in freshwater. Individuals spend most of their life-cycle in underground chambers near marshy and swampy areas of rivers, streams, and ponds. These underground tunnels, each with only one inhabitant, have several openings at the surface, which may have chimneys formed by excavated dirt. These tunnels provide excellent shelter and protection during feeding, mating, egg laying and rearing young, and are deep enough to reach ground water during periods of drought and to avoid freezing winter temperatures. Mean burrow depth ranges from 57.5 cm in autumn to 61.9 cm in spring. Burrows also serve as microhabitats for amphipods and isopods. (Grow and Merchant, 1980; Harris, 1903a; Pintor and Soluk, 2006; S, 2002)

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • lakes and ponds
  • rivers and streams
  • Range depth
    0.575 to 0.619 m
    1.89 to 2.03 ft

Physical Description

Devil crayfish are crustaceans related to lobsters (Family Nephropidae) and shrimp (Infraorder Caridea). They have hard exoskeletons that serve as protection from predatory animals. Coloring of these crayfish can vary but they tend to be dark reddish-brown or gray. Bright pastel red and blue individuals have also been found and young crayfish are mostly green, while older individuals are mostly dark brown. Two color variants have been observed in this species, a solid color phase (the most typical) and a striped phase. Devil crayfish resemble miniature lobsters, with spines, ten legs, a rostrum (extending in front of its eyes) with an acumen (pointed apical tip), and a pair of chelae (large claws). Gills are tucked underneath the body. Males differ from females in having a long rostrum with a narrower, more tapered acumen and larger, heavier chelae. (Hobbs Jr. and Barr Jr., 1960; Marlow, 1960; Ortmann, 1905)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes shaped differently
  • Range length
    40 to 61 mm
    1.57 to 2.40 in

Development

After devil crayfish hatch, young cling tightly to their mothers' pleopods using their claws. Young stay with the mother through their first and second molts and most of the third. During the first larval stage, devil crayfish measure about 4.5 mm and are still somewhat embryonic. While in the second larval stage, young detach and swim away from their mothers, returning throughout the second and third stages and remaining near their mothers until they are able to be independent. Juveniles will grow up to 20 mm during the fall, and by their second summer they reach 30 to 35 mm, molting into mature adults. (Andrews, 1907; Norrocky, 1989)

Reproduction

Devil crayfish are solitary animals, meeting with other individuals only during mating season. Females release pheromones, signaling their readiness to mate. These pheromones are detected by males through their antennules (short antennae). Males court females by touching them with their antennae and claws. Males deposit sperm into females' sperm receptacles during copulation, plugging them afterwards to prevent further mating. (Andrews, 1907)

This species reproduces annually, with breeding occurring predominantly in the fall. Egg-laying occurs in spring after temperatures have risen and photoperiods extend. All devil crayfish eggs are attached to the mother's pleopods for at least four weeks (the composition of the attachment is unknown). Females can lay up to 200 eggs, but only 10% typically survive past the first year. (Andrews, 1907; Jegla, 1966)

  • Breeding interval
    Devil crayfish breed once yearly.
  • Breeding season
    Fall
  • Average number of offspring
    200

While devil crayfish mate in the fall, they wait until the warmer spring temperatures to lay their eggs. After they have been laid, eggs are attached to the mothers until hatching via a hardened mass. After hatching, the larvae are in the first larval stage and firmly attached to their mother's pleopods, living an embryo-like existence. Even after molting into the second and third larval stage, the larvae still rely heavily on their mother because they are incapable of being freely living. However, after the second stage the larvae detach themselves from their mothers, although they return to her often. After molting into the third larval stage, young continue to stay with their mothers for protection until reaching full maturity. (Andrews, 1907)

  • Parental Investment
  • female parental care
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-independence
    • protecting
      • female

Lifespan/Longevity

Devil crayfish can live three years or more. (Norrocky, 1989)

  • Average lifespan
    Status: wild
    3 years

Behavior

Devil crayfish are burrowing crayfish that spend most of their life cycles in underground burrows, which they dig themselves. The chimneys surrounding these burrows, reaching up to a foot high and made of excavated clay and dirt, are notable. Individuals are solitary, with one inhabitant living in each burrow; interaction between individuals has only been observed during mating season. They are nocturnal and hunt at night. This species has been described as one of the most widespread and successful crayfish species in North America. (Grow and Merchant, 1980; Grow, 1981; Harris, 1903b)

Home Range

The home range of this species is unlikely to extend much beyond an individual's burrow, but no data regarding the average area covered by these tunnels is available. (Grow and Merchant, 1980; Grow, 1981)

Communication and Perception

Devil crayfish have eyes on movable stalks, allowing them to see in different directions. They use their antennae and chelae, which are covered in tiny hairs, to detect prey and predator animals by sensing water movements. In order to identify and signal readiness for mating to other crayfish, they emit chemical cues, including female pheromones which males sense via their antennules. (Andrews, 1907; Harris, 1903a)

Food Habits

Devil crayfish are scavengers and predators. About 60% of their diet is comprised of living or decaying aquatic vegetation with the other 40% made up of aquatic worms, insects, snails and detritus. (Pintor and Soluk, 2006; S, 2002)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • mollusks
  • aquatic or marine worms
  • Plant Foods
  • leaves

Predation

This species is prey to more than 200 predatory species, including various fishes, raccoons, Virginia opossum, red foxes, barred owls, Eastern newts, muskrats, crows, spotted salamanders, Eastern painted turtles, Northern water snakes, and red-tailed hawks. Two-thirds of this species' population is consumed by fish. Their burrows, as well as their small size and ability to move quickly, lend individuals some protection from predation. An anti-predator adaptation in this species is a tail-flip response, a rapid flip of the tail segments that allows individuals to quickly flee in the opposite direction. This response also acts as a warning system, signaling others to follow suit. (Dietz, 2003; S, 2002)

Ecosystem Roles

Devil crayfish play an important role in the aquatic ecosystem as predators and have been observed to have a net positive effect on prey animal populations. They also function as ecosystem engineers, providing extensive burrowing tunnels and systems throughout aquatic habitats. The larvae of an endangered species (Hines emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora hineana) regularly inhabit devil crayfish burrows in the late summer when their own larval habitats dry up. Devil crayfish are also a threat to populations of this species because they are are known to prey on larvae. Devil crayfish are hosts to a number of parasites, including a leech-like worm (Cambarincola macrodonta), flukeworms and many ostracods. (Cockerell, 1912; Hobbs and Peters, 1993; Olsen, 1974; Pintor and Soluk, 2006; S, 2002)

Commensal/Parasitic Species

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

This species is important to the food industry in a number of ways. It serves as bait, particularly for bass, trout, perch, carp and catfish, and it is also consumed by humans. Devil crayfish keep water quality levels high by eating dead animal and plant material from streams, and they control insect populations as well. (Dietz, 2003; S, 2002)

  • Positive Impacts
  • food
  • controls pest population

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known adverse effects of devil crayfish on humans.

Conservation Status

According to the IUCN Red List, devil crayfish are of Least Concern (LC) status, as they occupy a wide range of habitats and are highly tolerant to many ecological conditions. However, this species is locally threatened by anthropogenic changes including lake acidification and wetland destruction, though its wide distribution should guarantee its continued survival. (Guiasu, et al., 1996)

Contributors

Anna Lui (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Jeremy Wright (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

biodegradation

helps break down and decompose dead plants and/or animals

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

detritivore

an animal that mainly eats decomposed plants and/or animals

detritus

particles of organic material from dead and decomposing organisms. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers (organisms that decompose organic material).

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

fossorial

Referring to a burrowing life-style or behavior, specialized for digging or burrowing.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

marsh

marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

pheromones

chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

swamp

a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

visual

uses sight to communicate

References

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Berrill, M., B. Chenoweth. 1982. The Burrowing Ability of Nonburrowing Crayfish. The American Midland Naturalist, 108(1): 199-201. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2425310.

Cockerell, T. 1912. The Fauna of Boulder County, Colorado, II. Pp. 41-52 in F Ramaley, ed. The University of Colorado Studies, Vol. 9/2. Boulder, Colorado: University of Colorado. Accessed December 14, 2012 at https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=f2ocAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PR1.

Dietz, W. 2003. "Smart Angler's Notebook Crazy Crawfish" (On-line). Accessed February 15, 2012 at http://www.fish.state.pa.us/education/catalog/crazycrayfish.pdf.

Dorn, N., J. Volin. 2009. Resistance of crayfish (Procambarus spp.) populations to wetland drying depends on species and substrate. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 28(4): 766-777.

Grosell, M., C. Brauner, S. Kelly, J. McGeer, A. Bianchini, C. Wood. 2002. Physiological responses to acute silver exposure in the freshwater crayfish (Cambarus diogenes diogenes)—a model invertebrate?. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 20(2): 369-374. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620210220/full.

Grow, L. 1981. Burrowing Behavior in the Crayfish, Cambarus diogenes diogenes Girard. Animal Behavior, 29: 351-356.

Grow, L., H. Merchant. 1980. The Burrow Habitat of the Crayfish, Cambarus diogenes diogenes (Girard). American Midland Naturalist, 103(2): 231-237. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/pss/2424621.

Guiasu, R., D. Barr, D. Dunham. 1996. Distribution and status of crayfishes of the genera Cambarus and Fallicambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae) in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 2: 373-383.

Harris, J. 1903. The habits of Cambarus. The American Naturalist, 37(441): 601-608. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2454797.

Harris, J. 1903. An ecological catalogue of the crayfishes belonging to the genus Cambarus. Lawrence, Kansas: The Kansas University.

Hasiotis, S., C. Mitchelle. 1993. A comparison of crayfish burrow morphologies: Triassic and Holocene fossil, paleo‐ and neo‐ichnological evidence, and the identification of their burrowing signatures. Ichnos: An International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces, 2(4): 291-314.

Hazlett, B. 1989. Additional sources of disturbance pheromone affecting the crayfish Orconectes virilis. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 15(1): 381-385.

Hobbs Jr., H., T. Barr Jr.. 1960. The Origins and Affinities of the Troglobitic Crayfishes of North America (Decapoda, Astacidae). I. The Genus Cambarus. American Midland Naturalist, 64(1): 12-33.

Hobbs, H., D. Peters. 1993. New Records of Entocytherid Ostracods Infesting Burrowing and Cave-Dwelling Crayfishes, with Descriptions of Two New Species. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 106/3: 455-466. Accessed December 14, 2012 at http://biostor.org/reference/65543.text.

Jegla, T. 1966. Reproductive and molting cycles in cave crayfish. The Biological Bulletin, 130: 345-358.

Kilian, J., A. Becker, S. Stranko, M. Ashton, R. Klauda, J. Gerber, M. Hurd. 2010. The Status and Distribution of Maryland Crayfishes. Southeastern Naturalist, 9(3): 11-32. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://dx.doi.org/10.1656/058.009.s302.

Marlow, G. 1960. The subspecies of Cambarus diogenes. The American Midland Naturalist, 64(1): 239-250. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2422905.

Norrocky, M. 1989. New Distribution Records for the Crayfish Cambarus (Cambarus) ortmanni Williamson (Decapoda: Cambaridae) With Life History Note. Ohio Journal of Science, 89(3): 67-69. Accessed March 12, 2012 at https://dspace.lib.ohio-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/23319/V089N3_067.pdf?sequence=1.

Olsen, O. 1974. Animal Parasites: Their Life Cycles and Ecology. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.

Ortmann, A. 1905. The Mutual Affinities of the Species of the Genus Cambarus, and Their Dispersal over the United States. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 44(180): 91-136. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/983509.

Penn, G. 1950. Utilization of Crawfishes by Cold-Blooded Vertebrates in the Eastern United States. American Midland Naturalist, 44(3): 643-658. Accessed March 12, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2421826.

Pintor, L., D. Soluk. 2006. Evaluating the non-consumptive, positive effects of a predator in the persistence of an endangered species. Biological Conservation, 130: 584-591.

S, M. 2002. "Virtual Zoo" (On-line). Accessed February 24, 2012 at http://pioneerunion.ca.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=2865&linkid=nav-menu-container-4-4633.

Thomas, N., D. Bergman. 2008. Examination of Crayfish Biodiversity and Distribution Within the Grand River, Michigan. Student Summer Scholars: 25. Accessed February 02, 2012 at http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/sss/25.

Trepanier, T., D. Dunham. 1999. Burrowing and Chimney Building by Juvenile Burrowing Crayfish Fallicambarus fodiens (Cottle, 1863) (Decapoda, Cambaridae). Crustaceana, 72(4): 435-442. Accessed January 31, 2012 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/20106136.

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