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CBC
a day ago
- Science
- CBC
2 new species of crayfish identified in Pacific Northwest — and they're already at risk
Social Sharing Two new species of crayfish have been identified in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and researchers say both species are vulnerable to extinction. One of those crayfish is called the "misfortunate crayfish," found primarily in central Oregon, according to biologist Eric Larson. The other, the Okanagan crayfish, is found in, well, B.C.'s Okanagan Lake. Both were previously mistaken for the signal crayfish, the most common species of crayfish on the West Coast, Larson said. "They are brand new species. It's the first time anyone has called this animal the Okanagan crayfish," Larson told CBC's Daybreak South host Chris Walker. The easiest way to differentiate the signal variety from the other two is a distinctive white mark on the signal crayfish's claw. "If you find that absent or really reduced, that might suggest you're looking at the Okanagan crayfish," Larson said. Eric Taylor, a professor of zoology at the University of British Columbia, said it's important to identify different species, even if they appear very similar, for several reasons. "There's sort of an inherent value in knowing," he said. "Humans like to know about the world around us, which includes the natural world, so it's important for an accurate understanding of the level of biodiversity we have." Additionally, it helps researchers better understand the ecosystem in which these species live. Thirdly, identifying individual species gives conservationists an idea of how widespread the species is. For example, Taylor said, there could be a stronger effort to protect a species if it's only found in one small area, as opposed to across a region. At risk of extinction Okanagan and misfortunate crayfish are already considered at risk of extinction, according to Larson. Taylor said this is no surprise, given that these are smaller groups of what was once thought to be a larger population. "The smaller an area an animal or plant lives in, the greater the chance that if something bad happens, it's going to go extinct," he said. The Okanagan crayfish is of particular concern, Taylor said, because it's located in Okanagan Lake — an area of "high human impact." Larson hopes the situation will inspire conservation action. "Crayfish don't get along that well," he said. "We have moved crayfish around for centuries," Larson added, pointing to stocking lakes with crayfish, using them as bait and even classrooms releasing them into the wild. They can also catch a ride to a new location on boats, similar to invasive mussels. Larson said that, in particular, scientists worry Okanagan crayfish will be displaced by invasive virile crayfish, while misfortunate crayfish could disappear due to invasive rusty crayfish. That's a much bigger risk for the misfortunate crayfish in Oregon that has the rusty crayfish from eastern North America spreading really rapidly in its native range. But for the Okanagan crayfish, we kind of wanted to discourage movement of other crayfish into its populations. Not only can invasive species be harmful to those native to the Pacific Northwest, they also feed on fish eggs and destroy aquatic plants, Larson said, as well as damage infrastructure like irrigation canals and dams. Invasive crayfish can also carry disease, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Grad student discovers clawed creature tangled near WA lake. It's a new species
A graduate student came across a reddish-brown creature with claws that was tangled up in fishing line at a Washington lake — and it turned out to be a new species. Its scientific name is Pacifastacus okanaganensis, but it's known commonly as the Okanagan crayfish. A crayfish is a kind of crustacean, like a crab or lobster. The new species identification was shared in a May 8 study in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The graduate student, Eric Larson, has since graduated and is now an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He's the lead author of the study, which also documents another new crayfish species in Oregon. A method called genome skimming was used in identifying the new species. The Okanagan crayfish is found in north central Washington and south central British Columbia, Canada, researchers said. It's 'olive brown to brick red,' with a shell, claws and a pair of tubercles that extend from its head, among other features, according to researchers. Its name comes 'from an Okanagan-Salish language place name' and acknowledges its distribution 'throughout the Okanagan and Thompson plateaus and Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, as well as Okanogan County, Washington,' researchers said. Thousands of new species are found each year. Here are three of our most recent eye-catching stories. →'Large' creature with black eyes found at mine and discovered as new species →'Cryptic' creatures seen 'sunning themselves' in Canada. They're a new species →4-foot-long island predator found 'enveloping' an attacker. It's a new species Want to read more? Check out our stories here. Multiple specimens were analyzed as part of the study. Larson, who's been researching crayfish and similar creatures for years, including when he was a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle more than a decade ago, recalls that first Okanagan crayfish he came across — the one tangled in fishing line. Larson was in the middle of his doctoral studies, and a colleague from Japan, Nisikawa Usio — also an author on the study — shared that he'd come across an unusual crayfish 'up the mountain from Spokane, Washington,' Larson told McClatchy News in a phone interview. Usio encouraged Larson to take a look. Larson did just that. He liked to hike and camp, and in his free time, he'd 'drive over the mountains and look for this animal,' he said. He found it on the bank of a lake in the Okanogan-Omak area of Washington. When he saw it, he knew it was what he was looking for. To Larson, crayfish are fascinating, but 'I think people can misjudge their diversity,' he said. There are hundreds of species globally, and they differ 'in their habitat associations, how they interact with their food web (and) how abundant they might be,' Larson said. That means they're not interchangeable and moving them around can have ripple effects, he said. Identifying the new species is meaningful, he said, including because 'we can't really manage or conserve these animals if we don't know they exist.' The research team included Usio, plus Cathryn L. Abbott, Scott R. Gilmore, Caren C. Helbing, Mark Louie D. Lopez, Hugh Macintosh, Liane M. Stenhouse and Bronwyn W. Williams. Black-eyed mountain creature found under debris in Vietnam. It's a new species Endangered seal gained 100 pounds in 'remarkable recovery.' See him waddle home Baby baboon is first born at California zoo since 2019. See Defari snuggle mom
