Proceedings of 

 the United States 

 National Museum 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION • WASHINGTON, B.C. 



Volume 123 1967 Number 3621 



A New Crayfish from Alabama Caves 



with Notes on the Origin 



of the Genera Orconectes and Cambarus 



(Decapoda: Astacidae) 



By Horton H. Kobbs, Jr. 



Senior Zoologist, Department of Invertebrate Zoology 



The discovery of the new species described herein represents, 

 from a phylogenetic standpoint, one of the most significant finds in 

 the history of crayfish studies in the United States. With the knowl- 

 edge of the occurrence of this remarkable crayfish in caves in northern 

 Alabama, the initial postulate of Ortmann (1905a, p. 107) that the 

 genus Orconectes (=Ortmann's subgenus Faxonius) was derived from 

 a stock of the genus Procambarus (=Ortmann's subgenus Cambarus) 

 now becomes more firmly fixed. In addition, there is more concrete 

 evidence for postulating the places of origin for the Orconectes and 

 Cambarus stocks, and, indirectly, for limiting the possible time of 

 their origins. 



I should like to express my appreciation to Mr. W. S. Peck, who 

 collected the first specimens of this new species, and to Mr. and Mrs. 

 John E. Cooper, who have added a third locality and a number of 

 specimens from the type-locality. All three of them have generously 

 donated specimens to the Smithsonian and have furnished me wit h 

 data on the three localities from which the crayfishes were collected. 



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