New Crayfish Species 
77 
ventral surface of cheliped oyster with black flecking, tubercles at 
base of dactyl crimson; lateral margin of propodus with thin iodine 
or black line; articular eminences of chela and carpus of cheliped 
pale orange; distolateral spine of merus crimson. Pereiopods base color, 
with somewhat darker, mottled bands; margins and articulations crimson. 
Annulus ventralis and postannular sclerite gunmetal blue, except outer 
surfaces of cephalolateral prominences and region of sinus in caudal 
wall white. Antennular and antennal flagellae greenish brown proximally, 
changing to reddish tan distally. 
Type locality — North Carolina, Jones County, Trent River (Neuse 
River basin) at State Road (SR) 1129 near junction SR 1131, ca. 
4.5 air mi (7.2 air km) NNE of Comfort (Phillips Crossroads USGS 
Quadrangle, UTM coordinates 3882150/275010). 
On 5 October 1978, when the holotype and several paratypes 
were collected, the river was about 10 m wide between banks, the 
abnormally low water was clear and shallow, and there was little 
or no visible flow. Pitted limestone outcrops were abundant at the 
site, and the limestone substrate was covered with fine silt, organic 
debris, and pale yellowish flocculence. Most of the 16 specimens of 
O. carolinensis collected were found under rocks. They were darkly 
encrusted and a great deal of flocculence was clinging to their setae. 
No other crayfishes were found at this site, but other aquatic invertebrates 
observed included Hemiptera of the families Nepidae, Notonectidae, 
and Belostomatidae; two kinds of Odonata nymphs; at least two kinds 
of mussels, one of them large and very abundant; several kinds of 
gastropods; aquatic Coleoptera, including a species of dytiscid; several 
kinds of unidentified insect larvae; and abundant Palaemonetes paludosus 
(Gibbes). A number of N. lewisi also were collected or observed. 
Disposition of types — The holotype, allotype, and morphotype 
are in the crustacean collections of the North Carolina State Museum 
of Natural Sciences (NCSM), Raleigh (catalogue numbers NCSM C- 
2462, C-2486, and C-2463, respectively), as are the following paratypes: 
1 6 II, 3 j 6, and 2 j 9 (NCSM C-78); paratypes consisting of 8 
8 I and 1 ovig 9 are in the United States National Museum of Natural 
History (USNM), Smithsonian Institution, Washington (USNM 332038). 
Range and specimens examined — Endemic to the Neuse and Tar- 
Pamlico river basins of North Carolina. Within the Neuse basin, O. 
carolinensis occurs from near Willow Springs in southern Wake County, 
southeast to the upper reaches of the Trent River in central Jones 
County to Swift Creek on the line between Pitt and Craven counties. 
It appears to be absent from some of the Coastal Plain and most of 
the Piedmont Plateau of the Neuse River basin. Within the Tar-Pamlico 
