Status survey results and distribution of Cambarus veteranus across the upper guyandotte basin of West Virginia.

Abstract

Cambarus veteranus (Guyandotte River Crayfish) is endemic to West Virginia’s Upper Guyandotte basin (UGB) and currently petitioned for federal listing as endangered by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the turn of the last century, C. veteranus was documented occurring throughout the UGB. Basin wide surveys completed in 2009 only found the species in Pinnacle Creek, indicating C. veteranus had experienced extensive population decline. During May and June 2015, surveys were performed across the UGB to determine the current distribution of the species. Seventy one sites were sampled, including all historic as well as semi-randomly selected streams, with at least one and as many as nine 125m reaches sampled per wadeable stream. Surveys determined that Pinnacle Creek populations persist along a minimum of 4.8 stream kilometers. Cambarus veteranus was absent at both the confluence with the Guyandotte and headwaters of Pinnacle Creek. Animals also were procured for the first time from the Clear Fork/Laurel Fork watershed, with C. veteranus limited to a minimum of 21.7 km there in. Cambarus veteranus were not encountered in any other historic locations including Still Run and Huff, Barker, Briar, Indian, Little Indian, or Turkey Creek. At present, C. veteranus is known to occur within a minimum of 26.5 stream kilometers in two subwatersheds in the UGB, and given this limited distribution and apparent population decline, is deserving of federal protection.