Here is a pdf file I just made that should help some of you identify your Cambarellus species. These images come from "An Illustrated Checklist of the American Crayfishes" by H.H. Hobbs Jr.
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/ga ... cation.pdf
a) dorsal view of carapace of male, form I
b) mesial view of first pleopod of male, form I
c) lateral view of first pleopod of male, form I
d) lateral view of first pleopod of male, form II
e) annulus ventralis and post annular sclerite (female)
f) dorsal view of right chela of male, form I
I have very limited space to store a file like this. It will be available until I run out of room and have to clean it out, so make sure to save it on your computer.
Mustafa, please feel free to make this available here if you would like.
Andrew
Cambarellus identification images
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- YuccaPatrol
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The carapace view and the cheliped view will be easiest for most of us.
One note about the carapace. These images may appear slightly distorted in order to show the detail of a 3D carapace within the limitations of a 2D diagram.
So they may appear a little bit "fatter" so that details on the side of the carapace can be seen in the diagram. Imagine taking the rounded carapace and flattening it onto a sheet of paper.
As an example, here is a diagram of C. diminutus (from a different source) next to a photograph of one of my specimens. Compare the location of the small spines on the side to see how the diagram is flattenned compared to the real thing.


One note about the carapace. These images may appear slightly distorted in order to show the detail of a 3D carapace within the limitations of a 2D diagram.
So they may appear a little bit "fatter" so that details on the side of the carapace can be seen in the diagram. Imagine taking the rounded carapace and flattening it onto a sheet of paper.
As an example, here is a diagram of C. diminutus (from a different source) next to a photograph of one of my specimens. Compare the location of the small spines on the side to see how the diagram is flattenned compared to the real thing.

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Good eyes JasonFISH WORLD ERIE wrote:The picture you posted also looks like C. schmitti?
And the diminutus illustration looks a little different than the one you posted next to picture. The points under eyes.
Any chance you have a schmitti?
Jason

The carapace of diminutus and schmitti do look very similar, but the claws and the shape of the female annulus ventrais confirm that I do have C. diminutus.
The side-by-side diagram and photo were shown as an example of how to match a living specimen with one of these diagrams. This diagram is from the original 1942 species description rather than the updated version from the 1989 checklist. The photo is also of a female rather than a type I male shown in the diagram. For a demonstration as described above, the side-by-side image is useful but not 100% correct for comparing two very similar species
My specimens were collected from the type location for C. diminutus which is almost 100 miles away from the western-most range of C. schmitti.
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