Comprehensive Description
provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Procambarus (Hagenides) pygmaeus Hobbs
Cambarus advena.—Hagen, 1870:87* [“Cat. No. 282, Georgia, Dr. Jones. Male. Fem. Spec. 6” (in part: both P. (H.) pygmaeus and P. (H.) talpoides present)].
Cambarus Carolinus.—Hagen, 1870: figs. 51–54.
Procambarus pygmaeus Hobbs, 1942b: 13–15, 20, 30, 55, 66, 73–75, 83–88*, figs. 66–70, 296–304; 1954:110; 1959:885, 887*; 1962:279; 1968b:K-10*, fig. 16c.—Hobbs and Hart, 1959:149, 152, 158–160, 168–171, 173–176*, fig. 13.—Anonymous, 1967b, tab. 3*; 1967h, tab. 3*; 1973c:54*.—Wharton, 1978:220.*
Procambarus advena.—Hobbs, 1942b:77* [in part: Bryan County].
Procambarus (Hagenides) pygmaeus.—Hobbs, 1972a:7; 1972b: 50*, 152*, 154*, figs. 5j, 41e; 1974b:48–49*, fig. 196a,c–g [b is first pleopod of P. (H.) geodytes Hobbs, 1942b: 80].—Hobbs III, Thorp, and Anderson, 1976:3, 12, 28–29*, fig. 11.
The above citations are believed to constitute a complete bibliography of the species; those marked by an asterisk contain references to Georgia.
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE PERTAINING TO GEORGIA.—The locality for the specimens available to Hagen (1870) is not known, but inasmuch as specimens of P. (H.) talpoides were accompanying them, it is likely that they were collected south of the Altamaha River. As pointed out when the species was first described (Hobbs, 1942b), the first specimens I saw and recognized as distinct from the closely allied “P. advena” (= P. (H.) talpoides) came from flowing water in a roadside ditch in Clinch County, Georgia. The most complete accounts of the species are that just cited and those of Hobbs and Hart (1959) and Hobbs III, Thorp, and Anderson (1976). Excerpts from Hobbs (1942b) are included below. The only specific new localities for this crayfish that have been cited since it was first described are those of Anonymous (1967b, 1967h, and 1973c). (See “Specimens Examined.”)
DIAGNOSIS.—Rostrum without marginal spines or tubercles. Carapace lacking cervical spines. Areola 20.0 to more than 50.0 times as long as broad and constituting 32.9 to 38.0 (average 36.0) percent of entire length of carapace (39.5 to 44.7, average 42.1, percent of postorbital carapace length). Ventral surface of basis and ischium of third maxilliped not densely bearded. Male with mesial surface of palm and chela lacking beard but bearing cristiform row of tubercles; hook on ischium of third pereiopod only; coxa of fourth pereiopod with prominent caudomesial boss. First pleopods of first form male asymmetrical, contiguous, and reaching coxae of second pereiopods, cephalic surface without angular shoulder and preapical setae limited to few on cephalodistal border; mesial process comparatively slender, acute, and directed caudodistally; cephalic process absent; central projection very prominent, bladelike, directed distally, and its base only slightly narrower in lateral aspect then shaft of appendage immediately proximal to it; caudal element vestigial. Female with chela as in male; annulus ventralis subcircular to subelliptical, with marginal elevation of almost uniform height (ventrally), broken only by broad cephalic notch and caudal area flanking sinus; first pleopod present.
COLOR NOTES (Figure 118c).—(The color of this crayfish usually changes rapidly after capture. The bright green and scarlet coloration typical of the species in the wild changes, often within minutes, to olive and pale pinkish cream or tan). Cephalic section of carapace dark olive to forest green with at least 3 pairs of scarlet spots: 1 posterior to postorbital ridges, another across anterior margin of orbital and antennal regions, and third ventral to postorbital ridges on border of orbital and hepatic regions. Frequently rostral and postorbital ridges also scarlet. Branchiostegites olive to forest green, with paired oblique bands of scarlet flanking cervical groove, extending from areola to area of cervical tubercle; caudal and ventral ridges and flange of carapace black. Abdomen green, with broad transverse red band on each of first through fifth terga flanked caudally by narrow black band; sixth tergum with 3 prominent red spots posteriorly and very narrow marginal black band caudally. Pleura often with subcircular scarlet spot surrounding greenish cream center. Antennal and antennular peduncles olive green with flecks of scarlet, and flagella olive; antennal scale pale olive with dark lateral margin. Cheliped basically dark olive distal to base of distal two-thirds of merus; most tubercles almost black, articular knobs and ridges and few larger tubercles scarlet. Other pereiopods mostly pale olive, with distal parts of merus and carpus darker, and all scarlet at merocarpal and carpopropodal articulations. Ventral surface bluish to olive cream.
TYPES.—Holotype, allotype, and “morphotype,” USNM 81285 (I, , II); paratypes, MCZ, USNM.
TYPE-LOCALITY.—Roadside ditch 15.7 miles north of Fargo on U.S. Highway 41 (State Route 89), Clinch County, Georgia.
RANGE.—From the Tifton and Vidalia uplands in Georgia to the Atlantic coast (between the Suwannee and Savannah river basins), southward to Putnam County, Florida, and in the panhandle of the latter in Franklin, Gulf, and Liberty counties.
SPECIMENS EXAMINED.—I have examined a total of 328 specimens, 44 from Florida, and 284 from the following localities in Georgia. Atkinson County: (1) Pudding Creek at US Hwy 441 N of Pearson, 1j, 26 Sep 1972, E. T. Hall, Jr., W. D. Kennedy, HHH, collectors; (2) Pudding Creek at St Rte 135, 15.2 mi SW of Douglas, 1I, 3, 23 Mar 1959, R. H. Gibbs; (3) 0.2 mi W of US Hwy 221 on St Rte 64, 2I, 2II, 9, 6 Apr 1978, R. J. Dubois, D. J. Peters, J. E. Pugh, HHH. Berrien County: (4) Withlacoochee River at St Rte 76 (Anonymous, 1967b, tab. 3), 1, 1j, 1j, 11 Mar 1966, D. Schultz; 1II, 1j, 2j, 24 Jun 1975, DJP, JEP, HHH. Bryan County: (5) about 1 mi W of Ways Station (Richmond Hill), 1, 1 ovig , 15 Jul 1939, E. H. Blount, HHH; (6) 7.9 mi W of US Hwy 17 on St Rte 67, 1II, 1, 28 May 1969, ETH, HHH; (7) Mill Creek 1.2 mi N of Ellabelle, 5j, 27 Dec 1971, G. K. Williamson; (8) 1.9–4.7 mi SW of Pembroke on St Rte 119, 1I, 1II, 1, 2j, 27 Dec 1971, GKW; 1I, 2, 3j, 5j, 22 Jun 1975, DJP, JEP, HHH; 2I, 5II, 2, 2j, 20 Apr 1977, C. E. Carter, JEP, HHH. Candler County: (9) Fifteen Mile Creek at St Rte 46, 6I, 6II, 12, 1j, 2j, 21 May 1980, Univ. of Tennessee Regional Faunas Class. Charlton County: (10) 7.9 mi S of Brantley Co line on US Hwy 301, 1II, 2j, 2j, 23 Aug 1965, J. E. Cooper, M. R. Cooper; (11) Okefenokee Swamp, 1II, 5, 2j, 2j, 15 Apr 1941, C. B. Obrecht. Chatham County: (12) headwaters of Little Ogeechee River, 1I, 1, Nov 1968, R. W. Heard III. Clinch County: (13) type-locality, 2I, 4II, 9, 21j, 16j, 27 Oct 1938, F. N. Young, Jr., HHH; (14) 5 mi NE of Homerville on US Hwy 441 (Hobbs, 1942b:86), 1, 2j, 7 Aug 1939, HHH; (15) 7.6 mi N of Fargo on US Hwy 441 (Hobbs, 1942b:86), 4, 27 Oct 1938, FNY, HHH; 1j, 29 Mar 1977, H. K. Wallace, HHH; (16) Suwannee River off St Rte 177 near entrance to Stephen Foster St Park, 3II, 19 Oct 1972, B. A. Caldwell, R. M. Gaddis; (17) 15 mi N of Fargo on US Hwy 441, 1j, 25 May 1941, G. B. Hobbs, HHH; 1I, 2II, 2, 1j, 2j, 1 ovig , 29 Mar 1977, HKW, HHH; (18) 3.1 mi S of Suwannee River on St Rte 94, 1I, 2II, 2, 3j, 4j, 30 Mar 1977, HKW, HHH; (19) 3 mi S of Homerville off US Hwy 441, 1I, 1II, 3, 4 Nov 1967, J.J. Sullivan. Coffee County: (20) Seventeen Mile Creek at US Hwy 441, N of Douglas, 1II, 1j, 13 Sep 1972, RMG, M. W. Walker; 1j, 18 Oct 1977, BAC. Effingham County: (21) Ebeneezer Creek, 4.0 mi NW of Clyo, 1, 1 Oct 1972, GKW. Jeff Davis County: (22) Whitehead Creek 7.8 mi SW of Hazelhurst on US Hwy 221, 1I, 1, 3j, 23 Apr 1966, ETH, HHH. Liberty County: (23) Raccoon Branch about 2 mi N of Flemington, 1II, 1j, 28 May 1969, ETH, HHH; (24) Gouldins Creek about 5 mi S of Wilderness Church on unnumbered road, 1j, 2j, 27 May 1969, ETH, HHH. Long County: (25) Goose Run Creek 7.7 mi NW of McIntosh Co line on St Rte 99 near Ludowici, 1I, 2II, 3, 28 May 1969, ETH, HHH; 1, 18 Dec 1971, GKW. McIntosh County: (26) Buffalo Creek 6.5 mi W of US Hwy 17 on St Rte 251, 1I, 1II, 1, 2j, 3j, 28 May 1969, ETH, HHH. Telfair County: (27) 8.5 mi W of McRae on US Hwy 280, 1j, 21 Apr 1977, CEC, JEP, HHH. Tift County: (28) Ty-ty Creek at Worth Co line on US Hwy 82, 2I, 3II, 2, 5j, 6j, 24 Mar 1966, ETH, HHH; (29) Alapaha River at Irwin Co line on St Rte 35, 2, 2j, 4j, 25 Sep 1972, ETH, WDK, HHH. Ware County: (30) Satilla River at Rte S598, 5 mi N of Waycross, 1j, 13 Sep 1967, DS; (31) 18.2 mi SW of Waycross on US Hwy 84, 1II, 2j, 1j, 28 Sep 1972, ETH, WDK, HHH. Wayne County: (32) 0.5 mi N of Jesup on US Hwy 25 (St Rte 38), 1, 1j, 1j, 31 Dec 1938, HHH; 1I, 3, 27 Mar 1939, HHH. Locality Unknown: “Georgia,” 1I, MCZ 282.
VARIATIONS.—There appears to be remarkable uniformity among the available material from Georgia. As indicated by Hobbs (1942b:85), the rostra of the specimens from Clinch County are more lanceolate than those of most specimens collected elsewhere in the range. The ratio of the areolar length to that of the carapace is slightly higher in some, if not most, adults occurring north of the Altamaha River than in those south of it. Whereas most populations lack spines on the ventral surface of the basal segment of the antennular peduncle, some individuals from Wayne County possess a well-developed one.
SIZE.—The largest specimen available is a female, reared in the laboratory, with a carapace length of 27.0 (postorbital carapace length 22.8) mm; the largest collected in the field are a second form male and a female, each with corresponding lengths of 23.5 (21.2) and 23.5 (20.1) mm, respectively. The smallest first form male has comparable lengths of 16.7 (14.0) mm, and those of the smallest ovigerous female 21.1 (17.8) mm.
- bibliographic citation
- Hobbs, Horton Holcombe, Jr. 1981. "The Crayfishes of Georgia." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 1-549. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.318
