Lacunicambarus is a genus of burrowing crayfishes in the family Cambaridae. There are currently 12 described species in Lacunicambarus, all of which are found east of the Continental Divide in North America.[1][2][3] The genus was first recognized in 2018 when it was discovered through genetic analyses that the Cambarus subgenera Lacunicambarus and Tubericambarus were not monophyletic on their own, but that when combined they formed a single monophyletic group distinct from Cambarus.[4] A 2022 study used anchored hybrid enrichment to resolve the Lacunicambarus phylogeny, which elucidated interspecific relationships and highlighted remaining undescribed diversity within the genus.[3]

Lacunicambarus
Lacunicambarus ludovicianus, Painted Devil Crayfish, Mississippi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Cambaridae
Genus: Lacunicambarus
Hobbs, 1969

Species

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Lacunicambarus contains the following 12 species, plus 2 currently undescribed species:

 
Lacunicambarus cladogram adapted from Glon et al. 2022.[3]

Range

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Map from Glon et al. 2022 showing range of Lacunicambarus species.[3]

Lacunicambarus is one of the widest ranging crayfish genera in North America.[3] Species from this genus can be found in nearly every state east of the Rocky Mountains and in the Province of Ontario. Some species in the genus, such as L. nebrascensis, are remarkably widespread while others, including L. miltus, L. freudensteini, and L. mobilensis have very small ranges.

References

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  1. ^ "Lacunicambarus". GBIF. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  2. ^ Crandall, Keith A.; De Grave, Sammy (2017). "An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 37 (5): 615–653. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/rux070.
  3. ^ a b c d e Glon, Mael G.; Broe, Michael B.; Crandall, Keith A.; Daly, Marymegan; Kong, Sungsik; Thoma, Roger F.; Freudenstein, John V. (2022). "Anchored hybrid enrichment resolves the phylogeny of Lacunicambarus Hobbs, 1969 (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae)". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 42 (1): ruab073. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruab073.
  4. ^ Glon, Mael G.; Thoma, Roger F.; Taylor, Chris A.; Daly, Marymegan; Freudenstein, John F. (2018). "Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the devil crayfish group, with elevation of Lacunicambarus Hobbs, 1969 to generic rank and a redescription of the devil crayfish, Lacunicambarus diogenes (Girard, 1852) comb. nov. (Decapoda: Astacoidea: Cambaridae)". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 38 (5): 600–613. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruy057.
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