Life History and Ecology of Cambarus halli (Hobbs)

The life history of Cambarus halli, a crayfish endemic to the Tallapoosa River Basin, GA, was studied at four sites within the Tallapoosa River. Two sites had allopatric populations of C. halli, and two sites had populations of C. halli sympatric with C. englishi. Three age classes existed across sites. For Cambarus halli, total number of pleopodal eggs was positively related to carapace length, but egg size was only weakly positively related to carapace length. Cambarus halli were smaller across age classes at sympatric sites, but had greater growth rates than at allopatric sites. Cambarus halli density estimates were lower at sympatric sites, while proportions of reproductively active age-1 and age-2 individuals were higher at allopatric sites (63% vs. 33%).