Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 1-1-2012 The tS atus and Distribution of Invasive Crayfishes and Their ffecE ts on Native Crayfish Communities in West Virginia Casey David Swecker
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, and the Behavior and Ethology Commons Recommended Citation Swecker, Casey David, "The tS atus and Distribution of Invasive Crayfishes and Their Effects on Native Crayfish Communities in West Virginia" (2012). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Paper 244. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF INVASIVE CRAYFISHES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON NATIVE CRAYFISH COMMUNITIES IN WEST VIRGINIA A Thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University Huntington, WV In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Biological Sciences by Casey David Swecker Approved by Dr. Thomas G. Jones, Ph.D., Major Advisor Dr. Charles Somerville, Ph.D., Committee Chairperson Dr. Ralph Taylor, Ph.D., Committee Member Dr. Mike Little, Ph.D., Committee Member Marshall University May 2012 ABSTRACT Introductions of non-native crayfish species have resulted in the global decline of native crayfish populations, including those in North America. The last large survey of crayfishes from West Virginia was in 1988 and 1989. In this thorough document Raymond Jezerinac, Whitney Stocker, and Donald Tarter identified three separate areas in West Virginia where non-native crayfish species have been introduced.