Abstract
Abstract The distribution of the semi-terrestrial burrowing crayfish Creaserinus fodiens (Cottle, 1863) in Ontario was updated based on the examination of the records stored in the crayfish database of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and specimens collected during field studies. New Ontario locality records are reported for this crayfish species from MacGregor Point Provincial Park and other nearby sites in Bruce County, along the shores of Lake Huron. These are among the northernmost locality records reported for this species in North America. These new records represent a northwestern range expansion for this crayfish species in southern Ontario. As a result of these new records, the revised distribution of this species in Ontario is estimated to cover an area of about 32 620 km2. This is an increase of 7620 km2 over a previous 1996 estimate of this range. Creaserinus fodiens is a vulnerable species in Ontario, mainly due to the loss of suitable wetland habitats. Thus, the new locations and the range expansion reported here provide some hopeful news about the long-term future of burrowing crayfishes in this Canadian province. At some of the new locations, C. fodiens was found together with Faxonius immunis (Hagen, 1870), another burrowing crayfish species. However, this analysis of all the relevant records found in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) and the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa) shows that our knowledge of the distribution of C. fodiens in Ontario remains quite incomplete. A survey of the conservation status and challenges for this crayfish species in various regions of North America was also undertaken.
Highlights
Creaserinus fodiens (Cottle, 1863), known until 2017 as Fallicambarus fodiens (Cottle, 1863), is a widely distributed semi-terrestrial primary burrowing crayfish species native to eastern and central North America (Crocker & Barr, 1968; Guiasu, 2007)
In Ontario, the only Canadian province where C. fodiens is found, this burrowing crayfish species is vulnerable and found at relatively few wetland and drainage ditch locations scattered across the southern part of the province
I report a significant northward range expansion of C. fodiens in Ontario, update the estimated total area occupied by this species in this Canadian province, and comment on the distribution, ecology and conservation status of this burrowing crayfish in various regions of North America
Summary
Creaserinus fodiens (Cottle, 1863), known until 2017 as Fallicambarus fodiens (Cottle, 1863), is a widely distributed semi-terrestrial primary burrowing crayfish species native to eastern and central North America (Crocker & Barr, 1968; Guiasu, 2007). The range of this species stretches from southern Ontario in the north to Texas, Louisiana and Florida in the south (Guiasu, 2007; Taylor et al, 2007; Crandall, 2010). I report a significant northward range expansion of C. fodiens in Ontario, update the estimated total area occupied by this species in this Canadian province, and comment on the distribution, ecology and conservation status of this burrowing crayfish in various regions of North America
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