Biologists discover giant crayfish species right under their noses

It is unusual for aquatic biologists to miss a big species like Barbicambarus simmonsi. The population of this crayfish appears to be very sparse, however. Individuals were usually found under the biggest rocks in the deepest parts of a stream. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer, University of Illinois News Bureau.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Two aquatic biologists have proven that you don’t have to travel to exotic locales to search for unusual new species. They discovered a distinctive species of crayfish in Tennessee and Alabama that is at least twice the size of its competitors. Its closest genetic relative, once thought to be the only species in its genus and discovered in 1884 about 130 miles away in Kentucky, can grow almost as big as a lobster. …

Read the full story from the University of Illinois News Bureau here.