A new spinose crayfish of the genus Cambarus, subgenus Puncticambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae), from South Carolina

Abstract

Abstract Cambarus (Puncticambarus) aldermanorum is a new species of crayfish that appears to be endemic to the lower Catawba and Saluda river basins in the Piedmont Plateau of South Carolina. Morphologically, it is most similar to C. (P.) hobbsorum and C. (P.) hystricosus. It differs from both species in having a long, narrow, lanceolate rostrum, and in lacking a proximomesial tubercle or spine on the ventral surface of the carpus. It further differs from C. (P.) hobbsorum in having hepatic spines, in other aspects of spination, and in having a broader areola. Cambarus (P.) spicatus of the Broad River basin is another very spinose crayfish that bears some resemblances to C. (P.) aldermanorum, from which it differs in having a broader rostrum with a very short acumen that is delineated at its base by marginal spines or tubercles, and a much broader, more punctate areola.