In cool climates, crayfish that are not primary burrowing species are typically thought to retreat into deeper waters in winter and may seek refuge in small aquatic burrows or interstitial spaces associated with aquatic substrates. Herein, I report a novel observation of a juvenile Cambarus bartonii bartonii (Common Crayfish) during winter within eastern Pennsylvania occupying a terrestrial microhabitat consisting of moist, terrestrial leaf litter associated with a small depression in an upland forest. I found the crayfish in association with a small aggregation of Plethodon cinereus (Eastern Red-backed Salamander). Requirements of a hibernaculum by the salamanders with sufficient moisture and buffered from freezing may have also provided sufficient conditions for the crayfish to utilize the depression as a winter refugium.
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12 August 2019
Observation of a Cambarus bartonii bartonii (Common Crayfish) Overwintering in a Terrestrial Winter Microhabitat
Sean M. Hartzell
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Northeastern Naturalist
Vol. 26 • No. 3
July 2019
Vol. 26 • No. 3
July 2019