OBSERVATIONS ON THE BLIND CRAYFISHES OF INDIANA, WITH 

 A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBSPECIES; CAMBARUS PELLU- 

 CIDUS TESTII. 



BV 



W. V. Hay, 

 (Witli IMiilcH xi,iv-xi-v.) 



Dniinjjf llic snimnfrs of 1S!>1 and ISOU, wliilc visitinj,^ tlio cavos of 

 soiitlicrii Indiana, an <)|»i»»)rhinity was allordrd nic, to obsrivc t-lio habits 

 and to collect six'cinicns o(tli(5 blind crayll.sh, (Jambarus jxdlucidus. 



Tlio first ca\<', visited is known as Maylicld's Cave and is situated 

 about .'> miles west of llloorninj^ion, Monroe ( -onnly. Here nine spcnii- 

 niens of a |><'cnliar variety were cauf^lil- and consij^ned to tlie alcohol 

 bottle. 



No more craylishes weic, se(;n until I reached Iiedfor<l, in Lawrence 

 County, although it is possible that they existed in the caves between 

 the two jdac-es. The failure to fi ml s])ecimeiis was due to the heavy 

 autumn rains which had so muddied the subterram-an streams as to 

 obscure (iverythinj;' in tluuii. 



Near Bedford, in Down's Cave, I (iollected two small specimens. 



At Shiloh cave, ti miles farther to the west, they were very common. 



This cave is a capacious on<', and is traversed by a jiood-si/.ed stream 

 which will averaj^e a foot in depth. Tln' bottom is of j^ia\ el and full 

 of small stones which have fallen from the ceilinj^. A few crayfish 

 were found hei-e, but it was in a small l)ranch runninj;- into the lar<^e 

 stream about one cij^hth of a mile from the entrancre of the (tave that 

 they were tin; most abundant. The bottom of this branch is coniposed 

 almost (Mitii'cly of an exceedingly line <'lay, with here and there a large 

 rock which alfords a ready hiding place for the animals. 



When (list observed, the crayfish were generally, I might ahnost say 

 always, resting cpiietly in soiiui shallow ])art of the stream on one of the 

 banks of clay. TIm\v' lay with all their legs extended and their long 

 antennae gently waving to and fro. ()nc<i or twi(!e J saw^ tlu'in on the 

 shor<'. a foot, at least, from the water, and one of these ajjpeared to have 

 been digging in tin- soft mud. When in the water J. found it almost 

 impossible to catch them with the net, and aftei- a few trials threw it 

 aside as useless. A much surer method was to ai)proach them slowly 



I'fiicccdiiiijjM Natioiml Muhcuiii, \'o1. XV'l — Nu. 035. 



283 



