Cambaridae

American Red Crayfish

The Cambaridae are the largest of the three families of freshwater crayfish ( Astacoidea ). It includes more than 400 species.

Features

The types of Cambaridae family are compared with other major cancers rather small, the genus of dwarf crayfish ( Cambarellus ) is rarely more than 3 to 4 centimeters, the length of the other classes extends to a maximum of 15 centimeters.

The body consists of a head - chest area, the cephalothorax and an articulated abdomen, the Pleon. The front body is made of a thick shell, the carapace covering the front ends in a pointed projection, the rostrum. The carapace length is measured without the rostrum and designated as postorbital carapace length. At the front body sit five pairs of legs ( pereiopods ), the first pair of legs is modified into large claws. The remaining four pairs of legs can also carry small scissors and serve as walking legs. On them depends the gills, which serve to breathing. The rear end of the crabs is formed by the tail fan, which consists of the telson and the uropods. The eyes are compound eyes on the head there are two pairs of antennae.

Important for the species differentiation is also the form of the gonopods of the male, which are the extremities of the first abdominal segment.

Dissemination

Most species are native to the east of the North American Continental Divide in North America, others live in East Asia including Japan, such as Cambaroides japonicus.

Some North American species of Cambaridae were introduced into other continents, including the American Red Sumpfkebs ( Procambarus clarkii ) and the American crayfish ( Orconectes limosus ). This invasive crayfish displace native species not only by the change in their habitat, they are also carriers of the crayfish plague. Against this fungal disease, the North American species are immune, but in other species it is currently incurable and ends with the death of the infected crabs. The crayfish plague has already led to major changes in the composition of the major cancer fauna in Europe and on other continents, many types of there native crayfish are threatened with extinction.

Way of life

The cancers of the family Cambaridae are omnivorous, they feed on the growing in the bank near the water or in pools of water plants and microorganisms. For animal food including snails, mosquitoes, caddis fly and mayfly larvae and amphipods. Larger aquatic plants are used only for lack of other food of the diet of crabs on vegetable food detritus and algae are preferred.

System

The Cambaridae family was established in 1942 by Horton H. Hobbs Jr., all originally of the genus Cambarus attributed to species that had been split into many genera, together again at a higher systematic level.

A 2006 molecular study found that the family is probably paraphyletic. The delimitation of the family Astacidae is not secured, the position of the genus Cambaroides is unclear.

Genera

The genus Procambarus, with more than 140 species, the largest of the family, the genus Orconectes comprises 70 species. The genus is distinguished as Cambarellus subfamily Cambarellinae of the other genera, which are summarized in the subfamily Cambarinae. The genus Cambaroides belongs to neither of the two subfamilies.

Genera and selected species:

• Barbicambarus
• Bouchardina
• Cambarellus Striped dwarf crayfish ( Cambarellus patzcuarensis, rarely Cambarellus pazcuarensis )
• Louisiana dwarf crayfish ( Cambarellus shufeldti )
• Montezuma dwarf crayfish ( Cambarellus montezumae )

• Kalikokrebs ( Orconectes immunis )
• American crayfish ( Orconectes limosus )

• Redswamp crayfish ( Procambarus clarkii )
• Blue Florida Cancer ( Procambarus alleni )

• Troglocambarus maclanei ( only species of the genus, Caveman )