Cambarus loughmani, a new species of crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) endemic to the pre-glacial Teays River Valley in West Virginia, USA

Abstract

A new species of crayfish, Cambarus loughmani sp. nov., is described from the preglacial Teays River Valley of Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, and Putnam counties, West Virginia. The species was previously considered to be part of the Cambarus dubius complex. Loughman et al. restricted C. dubius to an orange colour morph found in central and northern portions of the Allegheny Mountains and Appalachian Plateau in central West Virginia, western Maryland, and south-central Pennsylvania. The new species described herein can be distinguished from all other members of Cambarus Erichson, 1846 by a double row of cristiform tubercles on the palm, an open areola with two rows of punctations, and a consistent blue colouration. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5BC7C861-038E-457C-80F3-ED7A66E10D73.