From: ASSESSMENT OF SPECIES DIVERSITY IN THE MIXEDWOOD PLAINS ECOZONE
THE CRAYFISHES
(Crustacea, Cambaridae)

David W. Barr
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
Royal Ontario Museum

INTRODUCTION

The first published research on crayfishes in the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone was by Cottle (1863) who provided the original description for Fallicambarus fodiens (as Astacus fodiens). Huntsman (1915, 1917) published the first provincial summary for Ontario. During the the next 50 years, the entire North American fauna became better known, species definitions improved and the nomenclature became relatively stabilized (eg., Hobbs 1942). Crocker and Barr (1968) provided a synthesis of the biology and systematics of the Ontario crayfish species along with map plots of museum collection localities. This study dealt with 4 of the 5 principal watersheds covered in the present report (Fig.C-1). Crocker and Barr recorded (1968) the first evidence of invasion of the study zone by a species (O. rusticus) originating farther south.

Fig.C-1

During the intervening 28 years, research on crayfishes of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone has accelerated. Work has included attention to biology and ecology (e.g., Berrill and Chenoweth 1982, Berrill et al. 1985, France 1984, 1985, Allison et al. 1992, Maude and Williams 1983, Tierney and Atema 1988 and Williams et al. 1974), distribution and local faunal studies (Bousfield 1969, Judd 1968), the progress of invading species (e.g., Berrill 1978, Corey 1988 and Maude 1988) and life history analyses (e.g., Berrill and Arsenault 1982, Hamr and Berrill 1985 and Corey 1987a,b, 1988, 1990).

In addition to the general progress in the understanding of crayfish biology in North America (e.g., Goldman 1983, Hobbs 1991), a number of very useful studies have been published for regions contiguous to the study zone (e.g., Crocker 1979 - New England, Jezerinac and Thoma 1984 - Ohio, Page 1985 - Illinois and Hobbs and Jass 1988 - Wisconsin).

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