North Carolina Crayfishes 115 



there, but specific records are lacking. There is a small, forest-green 

 Cambarus in Cherokee County that is as yet unidentified. 



Little Tennessee River — The main artery of the Little Tennessee 

 River originates in the Blue Ridge of Rabun County, Georgia. Its 

 tributaries drain most of Macon County, and parts of Swain and 

 Graham counties, North Carolina. Its major eastern tributary, the 

 Tuckasegee River, heads in Jackson County and flows northwest into 

 Fontana Lake. Another eastern tributary, the Cullasaja River, begins 

 in southeastern Macon County and joins the Little Tennessee River 

 south of Franklin. A western tributary, the Cheoah River, heads in 

 southern Graham County and flows northwest through Santeetlah 

 Lake, to merge with the Little Tennessee River at Cheoah Dam near 

 the state line. A second major western tributary, the Nantahala 

 River, rises in western Macon County and along the eastern border of 

 Clay County, and flows primarily north into Fontana Lake. Beyond 

 this lake the Little Tennessee flows west into Tennessee, joining the 

 Tennessee River near Lenoir City. 



One crayfish, C. georgiae, is endemic to the Little Tennessee, 

 where currently it is known from two sites along the main river in 

 Rabun County, Georgia, and several lower elevation sites in the Cullasaja 

 River watershed of North Carolina. More wide-ranging species of this 

 system are C. b. bartonii, C. longirostris, and C. asperimanus. Specific 

 localities for C. carolinus are reported here, and Hobbs and Peters 

 (1977:56) referred to a C. (J.) sp. in Jackson County (Tuckasegee 

 watershed), which may turn out to be C. carolinus or an undescribed 

 species. Orconectes spinosus is herein reported from the Cheoah 

 River watershed of this basin. 



French Broad River — The uppermost tributaries of the French 

 Broad River rise on the western slopes of the Blue Ridge in Transylvania, 

 Henderson, and Buncombe counties. Its major western tributary, the 

 Pigeon River, heads in western Haywood County and is an autonomous 

 unit in North Carolina. However, it joins the French Broad near Newport, 

 Cocke County, Tennessee. The main eastern tributaries, the Cane, 

 Nolichucky, and Toe rivers, rise in Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties. 

 They, too, form an independent unit that flows northwest and enters 

 Tennessee as the Nolichucky. This river then turns west and merges 

 with the French Broad at the upper end of Douglas Lake. The French 

 Broad River initially flows northeast in North Carolina, then turns 

 northwest and enters Tennessee about 5.5 air mi (8.8 air km) downriver 

 from Hot Springs, Madison County. It joins the Holston River at 

 Knoxville to form the Tennessee River. 



