On March 14 2015, Mary Power found a new crayfish in the South Fork Eel River, just north of the Angelo Coast Range Reserve on the eastern edge of the first pool below confluence of the South Fork Eel with Ten Mile Creek. Phil Georgakakos tentatively identified this as the non-native (invasive) red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procambarus_clarkii). Thanks to Sarah Kupferberg’s communications network, three crayfish experts quickly weighed in, supporting Phil’s identification. Phil and I found just the head and claws of this specimen—One expert expressed the hope that this crayfish had been eaten and tossed into the river. Although a human picnic seems unlikely, given the remote site, we can only hope this was the case~! We would be interested to hear if others see this new, intensely red, rather delicate (thin clawed) crayfish—with no “signal” white spots on its claws like the well-established (and possibly native) Pasifasticus leniusculus.
