The Crayfish of Tomlinson Run State Park, Hancock County, West Virginia, USA
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Freshwater Crayfish (2016) -- Early View, Version of Record RESEARCH ARTICLE ISSN: 2076-4324 (Print), 2076-4332 (Online) https://doi.org/10.5869/fc.2016.e226 The Crayfish of Tomlinson Run State Park, Hancock County, West Virginia, USA DAVID A. FOLTZ II,1,2,* CLARISSA N. DAMIS,1 NICOLE M. SADECKY,1 CYNTHIA L. CYPRYCH 2 1 AND ZACHARY J. LOUGHMAN 1 Department of Natural Science and Mathematics, West Liberty University, West Liberty, West Virginia, USA. 26074 *Corresponding Author.— [email protected] 2 Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., 333 Baldwin Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 15205 ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO In 2015, a survey of Tomlinson Run State Park (TRSP) located in Hancock County, West Virginia Article History: Submitted: 23 AUG 2016 USA was completed. Thirty stations, each 100m long, were randomly selected using ArcGIS for both Accepted: 14 NOV 2016 intermittent and perennial stream reaches. Sites were sampled by performing ten seine hauls at each Published Online: 30 NOV 2016 randomly selected station and scored using an Ohio EPA Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) to Published Print: XX XXX XXXX obtain qualitative habitat data. Ponds and impoundments were trapped for crayfish using baited crayfish/ Keywords: minnow traps. Burrows found in wetlands and seeps were excavated to determine TRSP burrowing Cambarus; crayfish species composition. In total, 471 crayfish of four speciesCambarus ( carinirostris, Cambarus conservation; monongalensis, Cambarus robustus and Orconectes obscurus) were collected. A statistically significant natural history; Orconectes; correlation existed between QHEI score and CPUE for C. carinirostris on intermittent streams. Cambarus West Virginia; monongalensis was the sole burrowing species encountered while C. carinirostris was only collected from intermittent stations (CPUE = 0.12). O. obscurus was the most common species collected from perennial streams (CPUE = 0.95) while Cambarus robustus was the rarest species (CPUE = 0.09) encountered in Tomlinson Run State Park. The crayfish fauna of TRSP is typical for the Upper Ohio River Valley, and at the present time, all species appear stable. Copyright © 2016 by The Author(s). Published by the International Association of Astacology. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION Tomlinson Run State Park is a 565.8 hectare (1,398 acre) state Crayfish are one of the most imperiled faunal groups both park, located in Hancock County, the northernmost county of West globally and in the United States (Taylor et al. 2007; NatureServe Virginia’s northern panhandle. Tomlinson Run contains two large 2010; Richman et al. 2015). Despite increasing awareness in third-order streams (Tomlinson Run and North Fork Tomlinson recent years, many crayfish knowledge gaps still exist, with the Run) along with many tributaries and multiple manmade distribution and habitat preference of many species remaining impoundments. The focus of this study was to determine crayfish unknown (Richman et al. 2015). Within West Virginia, recent species presence within the park, as well as determine crayfish efforts by Loughman and Welsh (2010; 2013) have provided densities and habitat preference. The study also served as a means statewide distributions and documentation for all 30 crayfish of determining if any invasive species of crayfish are present, since species occurring within the state. One main shortfall of their impounded waters within a park could serve as a vector of invasion efforts has been a lack of documentation of the crayfish fauna (Kilian et al. 2010; Loughman and Welsh 2010; Kilian et al. 2012) in West Virginia state parks, as not all state parks were sampled, Based on previous statewide and local surveys completed and none were extensively sampled. As such, this study focuses by Jezerinac et al. (1995), Loughman and Simon (2011), and on sampling crayfish within Tomlinson Run State Park (TRSP) in Loughman and Welsh (2010; 2013), the TRSP crayfish fauna was Hancock County, West Virginia. This is the first in a series of state predicted to be comprised of Cambarus carinirostris Hay, 1914, park bioassesments to augment Loughman and Welsh’s (2010; Cambarus monongalensis Ortmann, 1905, Cambarus robustus 2013) statewide collecting efforts. (Girard 1852), Cambarus thomai Jezerinac, 1993 and Orconectes 1 2 Freshwater Crayfish Figure 1. Map depicting distribution of Cambarus carinirostris, Cambarus monongalensis, Cambarus robustus, and Orconectes obscurus at sampled reaches on streams throughout Tomlinson Run State Park, Hancock County, West Virginia, USA. obscurus (Hagen 1870) . We also expected to encounter invasive Collection Methods and Field Data species, as heavy recreational fishing, like that exhibited within the park, is one of the main vectors for introductions of invasive Crayfish sampling crayfish likeOrconectes rusticus (Girard 1852), Orconectes virilis Crayfish were collected with 2.4 m x 1.5 m (8’ x 4’) minnow (Hagen 1870) and Procambarus clarkii (Girard 1852) (Kilian et al. seines. Ten seine hauls (1 seining effort = 1 seine haul) were executed 2010; Loughman and Welsh 2010; Kilian et al. 2012). at each 100m (328’) site. Hauls were equally distributed between riffle, run, and pool habitat types when site habitat availability MATERIALS AND METHODS allowed. At intermittent sites lacking flow, ten investigator minutes were substituted in place of ten seine hauls. All collected crayfish Site Selection were identified to species, sexed, measured for total carapace Sixty (30 perennial and 30 intermittent) non-weighted, length (TCL), and released. Each site was assigned a unique station randomly chosen stream reaches were selected through use of number that correlated site datasheets to the specimens extracted. ArcGIS following a preliminary habitat survey of waters within Stream morphology data was collected via QHEI (Quality Habitat TRSP. Sites were randomly selected to avoid researcher bias and Evaluation Index) for both intermittent and perennial stations. The to give a more comprehensive view of crayfish species throughout QHEI metric was developed by the Ohio EPA and consists of a six the park. All impoundments, ponds, and wetlands located within parameter scoring metric focusing on the categories of substrate, the park were sampled (Figure 1). instream cover, channel morphology, bank erosion and riparian 2016 Foltz et al. — Crayfish of Tomlinson Run State Park 3 Figure 2. Specimens of the species collected in Tomlinson Run State Park, Hancock County, West Virginia, USA. A, Cambarus carinrostris; B, Cambarus monongalensis; C, Cambarus robustus; D, Orconectes obscurus. zone, pool/glide and riffle/run quality, and gradient. QHEI scores sampled-1) at 66.6% of the sites sampled, with a significant were plotted against CPUE for each crayfish species to determine correlation between the CPUE and the QHEI score (r2 = 0.13; p = if any species within the park demonstrated preference towards or 0.05; Figure 3). Perennial streams yielded C. carinirostris (TCL required a specific habitat quality. = 20.1 mm; n = 118; SD ± 9.9; CPUE = 0.393 crayfish·seine Crayfish were also collected using baited traps and through haul-1) at 83.3% of the sites sampled. No significant correlation burrow excavation. Thirty traps baited with cat food were for C. carinirostris existed between the CPUE and QHEI score distributed throughout TRSP ponds and impoundments. Each trap (r2 = 0.07; p = 0.15). Cambarus robustus (TCL = 24.8mm; n = was assessed every 24 hours for two days for a total of 60 trap 26; SD ± 11.9; CPUE = 0.086 crayfish·seine haul-1) was found nights. Before being retrieved, all collected crayfish were identified at 36.6% of the sites sampled. No significant correlation for C. to species, sexed, measured for TCL, and released. Burrowing robustus existed between the CPUE and QHEI score (r2 = 0.00; p = crayfish were collected when burrow colonies were encountered. 0.92). Orconectes obscurus (TCL = 20.8 mm; n = 286; SD ± 6.3; Excavations were limited to no more than ten burrows per site to CPUE = 0.953 crayfish·seine haul-1) was found at 96.6% of the limit disturbance within the park. sites sampled. No significant correlation for O. obscurus existed between the CPUE and QHEI score (r2 = 0.10; p = 0.09). RESULTS Lentic Sampling and Burrowing Crayfish Sampling Tomlinson Run State Park Crayfish Species Composition Despite 60 trap nights of sampling, open water trapping had A total of 471 crayfish were captured in TRSP and consisted minimal success (CPUE = 0.016 crayfish·trapping night-1) and of the following four species: C. carinirostris, C. monongalensis, only captured a single male O. obscurus measuring 27.9 mm in a C. robustus and O. obscurus (Figure 2 A-D). man-made impoundment on the upper reaches of an intermittent Lotic Sampling stream. Burrow excavation yielded C. monongalensis (= 24.2 mm; Sampling of intermittent streams yielded only C. carinirostris n = 4; SD ± 2.6) in four separate wetlands and seeps. In order (TCL = 23.1 mm; n = 37; SD ± 5.8; CPUE = 0.123 crayfish·minute to comply with permits and keep disturbance to a minimum, no 4 Freshwater Crayfish Figure 3. Linear regressions of the CPUE of crayfish found within the park and QHEI. A, Cambarus carinirostris at intermittent sites where it was collected. B, Cambarus carinirostris at perennial sites