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Investigations on origin and status of a Faxonius crayfish population in the upper James River Basin, Virginia

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Abstract

Freshwater crayfish are an ecologically important component of freshwater ecosystems. A combination of factors, including high levels of species diversity, endemism, and limited morphological divergence among species have created a situation where taxonomy, accurate geographic ranges, and species identifications are in flux. We used genetic data to investigate the origin and status of a species of Faxonius (Cambaridae) in the upper James and Roanoke rivers in western Virginia. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data suggests that this species, F. ozarkae, is native to streams in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, and has been introduced into Virginia recently. Details of the initial introduction are not known, but may plausibly be connected to commercial fish stocking.

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Relevant DNA sequence data has been deposited in GenBank.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Emmy Delekta, Nicole Sadecky, Michael Lucero, Kinsey Guthrie, David Foltz, Loughran Cabe, Han Cabe, and Peter Yin Cabe for help with field work. Samples were collected under Virginia Division of Wildlife Resources permits to PRC (051341) and ZJL (062208), and under permits to ZJL from AR and MO.

Funding

This work was funded through a grant to ZJL from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and by Washington and Lee Lenfest Faculty Grants to PRC and by a grant to Washington and Lee University from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Precollege and Undergraduate Science Education Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA, USA

    Paul R Cabe, Morgan D. T. Frost & Bradleigh E. Navalsky

  2. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Morgan D. T. Frost

  3. Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, PA, USA

    Bradleigh E. Navalsky

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV, USA

    Zachary J. Loughman

Authors
  1. Paul R Cabe
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  2. Morgan D. T. Frost
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  3. Bradleigh E. Navalsky
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  4. Zachary J. Loughman
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Contributions

Paul Cabe and Zachary Loughman conceived and designed the project. Zac Loughman planned field collection; Paul Cabe, Morgan Frost, and Bradleigh Navalsky participated in field work in Virginia. Genetic data collection and analysis was done by Paul Cabe, Morgan Frost, and Bradleigh Navalsky.

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Correspondence to Paul R Cabe.

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Cabe, P.R., Frost, M.D.T., Navalsky, B.E. et al. Investigations on origin and status of a Faxonius crayfish population in the upper James River Basin, Virginia. Conserv Genet 23, 853–858 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-022-01442-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-022-01442-w

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