106 J. E. Cooper and A. L. Braswell 



in the State. Its type locality is a tributary of the Nottoway River, 

 which is a major trunk of the Meherrin River, in southeastern Virginia 

 (Hobbs 1951:124-125). The Meherrin River joins the Chowan River 

 at the Gates County, North Carolina, line. Orconectes virginiensis 

 originally was known in the Chowan basin of North Carolina from 

 five specimens collected at a single locality in Hertford County: 

 Cutawhiskie Creek (Swamp), a tributary of Potecasi Creek, 1 air 

 mi (1.6 air km) southwest of Menola (Cooper and Cooper 1977c: 

 215). The collection, made on 13 August 1974 by Chris Ellis, consisted 

 of a form I and two form II males (NCSM C-33), and two females 

 (NCSM C-31, 32). A sixth Chowan basin specimen, an adult female, 

 was collected on 24 July 1985 from a submerged log in the Meherrin 

 River at CR 1175 (Parkers Ferry), downstream from the confluence of 

 Potecasi Creek, about 3.2 air mi (5.1 air km) north-northwest of the 

 center of Winton, Hertford County, by David R. Lenat. 



Although Hobbs (1989:38) gave the general range of O. 

 virginiensis as "Chowan drainage system in North Carolina and 

 Virginia," Cooper and Cooper (1977c:215) had reported it earlier from 

 the lower Roanoke River basin in Martin County. A form I male 

 (USNM 116979) was collected in Ready Branch, a tributary of 

 Sweetwater Creek, 4.5 air mi (7.2 air km) south of Williamston, on 

 28 March 1949 by E. C. Raney. This species is now known from the 

 following additional localities in the Roanoke River basin: Bertie 

 Co.—(l) Roanoke R at NC 45/308 at Washington Co line, 5.6 air mi 

 (9.0 air km) ENE cntr Sans Souci; 1 9, 2 j 9, 6 Jul 1986, DRL. 

 Halifax Co.— (2) Roanoke R at NC 258 at Northampton Co line, 

 2.9 air mi (4.6 air km) E cntr Spring Hill; 1 j 6, 9 Jul 1987, DRL. 

 Martin Co. — (3) Ready Br at US 17 bridge, ca. 5.5 air mi (8.8 air 

 km) S Williamston; 1 j 9 (NCSM C-363), 17 Jun 1980, JP. 



The adult female collected at the Bertie County site was found 

 in a submerged log. About this locality, which is not far west of 

 Batchelor Bay, a brackish estuary of Albemarle Sound, Lenat (in litt.) 

 said that the water there was about 200 m wide, slow-moving, and 

 "may be slightly brackish." He added, "The shore areas have abundant 

 growths of water lily, with many pieces of dead wood on the bottom. 

 Prolific algal growths suggested some enrichment this year. The fauna 

 is primarily freshwater, but also contains some estuarine taxa." At the 

 Martin County site, a form I male and two female P. a. acutus were 

 collected with the O. virginiensis. 



Occurrence of this species in both the Chowan and lower 

 Roanoke basins is not surprising, since during the Pleistocene the 

 Chowan "would have been a tributary of the Greater Roanoke 



