Fallicambarus jeanae (Hobbs)

Map [dots indicate Ouachita National Forest collection sites]

Recognition Characters: Body subovate and compressed. Abdomen much narrower than cephalothorax. Areola linear over much of its length. Rostrum with convergent moderately thickened margins, lacking marginal spines or tubercles and contracting rather suddenly near the apex to form short subtriangular acumen. Width of palm of chela of first pereiopod usually no less than 1.7 times of its mesial margin. Its color yellowish tan with bluish-brown tubercles. Branchiostegal spine vestigial. Cervical spine or tubercle absent. Abdomen distinctly shorter than carapace. Pleura short and rounded. Male with hook on ischium of third pereiopod only. First pleopod reaching coxa of third pereiopod, held deep within sternum, and largely hidden by setae extending caudally and mesially from ventral margins of sternum and mesial surface of boss on fourth pereiopod; proximomesial spur well developed; terminal elements subparallel and curved throughout their length; mesial process somewhat grooved and acute distally; central projection tapering from base and recurved with apex almost reaching same level as cephalic base of projection; cephalic process absent. Mesial ramus of uropod without a distolateral spine. Telson lacking lateral spines.

Coloration: The carapace is generally pale mauve with rostral margins, postorbital ridges, and paired subtriangular areas caudal to postorbital ridges a dark brown, the latter joining along the cervical groove and in the caudal gastric area where the color is almost black. The caudal margin of the carapace is dark brown. The first abdominal tergum is also dark brown, while the remaining terga are pale yellowish tan with paired dorsolateral cream splotches and each is edged caudally with vermillion. The telson and uropods are cream colored with pale tan suffusion basally. The cheliped is mostly yellowish tan dorsally with dark bluish-brown tubercles and a bluish-brown suffusion on the dorsal argin of the merus, dorsomesial surface of carpus, and the dorsomesial part of dactyl. The ventral surface of the cheliped is yellowish cream.

Size: Adults 1.8 to 3.5 inches (45-49 mm).

Habitat: Another of the primary burrowers, Fallicambarus jeanae inhabits roadside ditches and low-lying seepage areas in sandy to clay soil.

General Range: The range of this species is the Ouachita River basin in Clark, Hot Spring, Montgomery and Pike counties, Arkansas, thus making it a state endemic (Hobbs, 1989; Robison and Allen, 1995).

Comments: Six specimens of state endemic, Fallicambarus jeanae, were collected from two localities making this a "rare" crayfish on the ONF. The crayfish species Fallicambarus spectrum, also known from the same general area, was deemed as only a distinctive color morph of F. jeanae and was placed in the synonomy of that species by Hobbs and Robison (1989).