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Abstract

The Hiwassee crayfish Cambarus hiwasseensis (CH) is an endemic species to the Hiwassee River watershed in north Georgia and western North Carolina that is sympatric with the more widespread Appalachian Brook crayfish Cambarus bartonii cavatus (CB). This was the first study to investigate CH habitat use, comparing CH habitat to CB habitat in Corn Creek, a small, second-order stream in the Hiwassee River watershed. From August to November 2016 and January to April 2018, 15 habitat parameters were measured for 154 1-m2 quadrants randomly sampled from an 800-m stream reach. Mann-Whitney U tests compared habitat parameters between present and absent sites for CH and CB and compared differences between CH and CB present sites. Dominant substrate and habitat types at present and absent site were compared with a Chi-square test. For CH, there was no significant differences among habitat units (χ2 = 4.13; P = 0.127) or substrates (χ2 = 8.87; P = 0.181) for CH although they were found at greater frequency in run and pool habitats and among cobble and small boulder substrates. CB significantly preferred riffles and habitats with less silt , embeddedness, stream roughness, and shallower depths. The amount of silt substrate was significantly greater for CH present locations than for CB present locations. Thus, CH demonstrated more generalist tendencies with greater occurrence in shallow, slow-flowing pools with some silt whereas CB was more specific to shallow, faster flowing riffles swept clear of silt with potential overlap in run habitats between the two species. This study improves understanding of CH habitat use and may be useful in considering future management strategies and recommendations in response to human impacts and environmental changes.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of Young Harris College and their financial support of undergraduate research. We also thank the many students who assisted in data collection.

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