Last summer, Dr. Adrian Smith joined me in the field to capture video of the excavation of an undescribed species of burrowing crayfish. Three hours of digging (we were in the middle of a dry spell), untold numbers of mosquito bites, and a wee bit of caked on mud later I got one. And Adrian’s footage of it was magical; check out the video on his AntLab YouTube channel here:
This is the crayfish I dug that day. It’s a gorgeous form of Cambarus reduncus, the Sickle Crayfish. Using an integrated approach, we have discovered a lot of “hidden” diversity in North Carolina and South Carolina in this group of crayfishes (Depressicambarus), which includes both secondary and primary burrowing species. Finding the animals can be the most challenging aspect of this work! 📸 Michael A. Perkins, NCWRC. #crustmas #crayfish #crustacea
@gmnh Yes!!!!!!!!!!!
@BWWilliamsLab we would love to show you our crayfish - you take gorgeous photos of them by the way! Looking forward to connecting in the new year about our shared mission.