Black Creek Crayfish (Procambarus Pictus) Species Status Assessment
Black Creek Crayfish (Procambarus pictus) Species Status Assessment Version 1.0 Photo by Christopher Anderson July 2020 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service South Atlantic, Gulf & Mississippi Basin Regions Atlanta, GA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by Kathryn N. Smith-Hicks (Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute), Heath Rauschenberger (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Service]), Lourdes Mena (Service), David Cook (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission [FWC]), and Erin Rivenbark (Service). Other species expertise, guidance, and document reviews were provided by Paul Moler (FWC), Gary Warren (FWC), Lindsey Reisinger (University of Florida), Katherine Lawlor (FWC), Kristi Lee (FWC), and Kasey Fralick (FWC). Additionally, peer reviewers including Troy Keller and Chester R. Figiel, Jr. provided valuable input into the analysis and reviews of a draft of this document. We appreciate their input and comments, which resulted in a more robust status assessment and final report. Suggested reference: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2020. Species status assessment report for Procambarus pictus (Black Creek crayfish), Version 1.0. July 2020. Atlanta, Georgia. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Black Creek crayfish (Procambarus pictus) are small to medium sized crayfish endemic to four northeastern Florida counties (Clay, Duval, Putnam, and St. Johns) in the Lower St. Johns River Basin. Black Creek crayfish rely on cool, flowing, sand-bottomed, and tannic-stained streams that are highly oxygenated. Locations that fulfill the species’ habitat requirements are typically headwater sections of streams that maintain a constant flow; however, they are found in small and large tributary streams. Within these streams, Black Creek crayfish require aquatic vegetation and debris for shelter with alternation of shaded and open canopy cover where they eat aquatic plants, dead plant and animal material, and detritus.
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