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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: rusty crayfish
Taxonomy: available through 
Size: can reach 4 in long
Native Range:
Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland drainages.
Nonindigenous Occurrences: Unspecified locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Titicus River in Connecticut, Hudson River drainage in New York, Kanawha River in West Virginia, and the Androscoggin and Kennebec drainages in Maine. Collected in Illinois River at Peoria and established in Peoria Lake, Illinois (Taylor 1998 and Post 2002). Collected in Cook, Itasca, Lake, Pine, St. Louis counties in Minnesota (D. Jenson, pers. comm.), Amnicon River in Wisconsin (G. Czypinski, pers. comm.), and a small park lake in Omaha, Nebraska (J. Katt, pers.comm). A population in Wyoming was eradicated after it was found they had been illegally stocked (Wyoming Game and Fish Dept., press release).
Means of Introduction: Probable bait bucket introductions.
Status: Established outside its native range.
Impact of Introduction: Displace native crayfish; destruction of plant bed abundance and diversity.
Remarks: Found in streams, lakes, and ponds with varying substrates from silt to rock and plenty of debris for cover; needs permanent water, they generally do not burrow to escape dry periods. Breeding occurs in the fall and eggs laid the following spring, hatching within several weeks. The introduction of one female carrying viable sperm could start a new population.
References
Other Resources:
Orconectes rusticus (Global Invasive Species Database)
Rusty crayfish fact sheet (Minnesota Seagrant Website)
Photo of rusty crayfish (USGS photo)
Author:
Revision Date: 1/30/2008 Citation for this information:
United States Geological Survey. 2009. Orconectes rusticus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=214> Revision Date: 1/30/2008
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