Diet, Distribution, and Habitat of the Tennessee Bottlebrush Crayfish, Barbicambarus simmonsi

Crayfish are a diverse group of aquatic invertebrates that comprise a significant amount of the biomass of aquatic systems. As such, they haveconsiderable impacts on their ecosystem (Taylor and Soucek 2010). Crayfish display an incredible amount of biodiversity and two-thirds of the World’s 600 plus species are found within North America (Taylor et al. 2007). Over half of all North American species are endemic tosmall ranges which places them at higher risk to threats such as habitat loss or invasive species (Jones and Bergey 2007). In addition, life history information is limited or non-existant for over two-thirds of these species (Moore et al. 2013). If we are to properlymanage for and conserve this unique biotic resource,it is important to fill these knowledge gaps. This study attempts to assess aspects of the natural history for onespecies in particular, the Tennessee Bottlebrush Crayfish, Barbicambarus simmonsi.Aspects examined include distribution and habitat using data gathered in a complementary study conducted by Stites and Taylor (2014), and diet and resource use.