A survey of Cambarus crayfish and their symbiotic branchiobdellidans, Sinking Creek, Newport, VA, USA 2017-2018

Crayfish throughout the holarctic are found in association with an order of worms known as branchiobdellidans. This relationship has been confirmed as a cleaning symbiosis in several species. The Conhaway crayfish, Cambarus appalachiensis, is a species of crayfish endemic to the New River Basin in Virginia and West Virginia. We studied a population of C. appalachiensis in Sinking Creek in Newport, VA from March 2017 until February 2018. We collected morphological data and quantified the branchiobdellidan communities on 986 individuals, and kept note of egg brooding and young of year throughout the study period. The life cycle of C. appalachiensis was found to be similar to other large-bodied species of Cambarus crayfish. Molting occurred throughout the year, peaking in the months of April and September. This molting served as a disturbance effect to the symbiotic branchiobdellidan community and reset community assembly. The worm communities on larger, recently molted crayfish more close..., We sampled the crayfish Cambarus appalachiensis, previously C. sciotensis (Loughman et al. 2017), bimonthly in Sinking Creek at the Newport Recreation Area in Newport, VA (37.303096°N, 80.485522°W) from March 2017 until February 2018. The stream reach we chose to sample had multiple riffles and pools, and covered a broad range of crayfish habitats. We sampled crayfish from these varied microhabitats across the stream reach using dip nets, totaling 986 crayfish captures during our study. Our monthly sample sizes ranged from 53 to 104 crayfish. After measuring the physical properties of the crayfish and symbiont identification (detailed below), crayfish were returned to the stream and deposited downstream of the collection site to reduce the chance of resampling the same crayfish. Crayfish were separated from each other at the stream to prevent symbiont dispersal between sampled crayfish, transported from the stream to a laboratory, and stored live in the refrigerator separated from each ..., , # A Survey of Cambarus crayfish and their Symbiotic Branchiobdellidans, Sinking Creek, Newport, VA, USA 2017-2018 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqqq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqqq) ## Sampling Methods The location of each branchiobdellidan symbiont on the host crayfish was also noted. They are described as follows, including the letter used to denote a branchiobdellidan found at that location in the dataset: the ventral margin of the crayfish carapace, or within 5 mm of the ventral margin (**a**); the dorsal surface of the chelae (**b**); the walking legs (**c**); the anterior section of the carapace including the rostrum (excluding a), defined as the section anterior to the primarty transverse structure on the cephalothorax (**d**), the posterior section of the carapace (excluding a and f), defined as the section behind the primary transverse suture on the cephalothorax (**e**); within the margins of the areola (**f**); the dorsal surface of the abdomen (**g**), the ...,全北界（Holarctic）的淡水螯虾常与一类名为鳃蛭类（Branchiobdellidans）的蠕虫类群共生。该共生关系在多个物种中已被证实为清洁共生（cleaning symbiosis）。康哈威螯虾（Cambarus appalachiensis）是分布于美国弗吉尼亚州与西弗吉尼亚州新河盆地（New River Basin）的特有螯虾物种。本研究于2017年3月至2018年2月期间，在弗吉尼亚州纽波特的辛辛溪（Sinking Creek）对C. appalachiensis种群开展了调查。研究人员采集了986个个体的形态学数据，定量分析其体表的鳃蛭类群落，并在整个研究周期内记录了抱卵个体与当年幼体（young of year）的出现情况。研究发现，C. appalachiensis的生活史与其他大型坎伯兰属（Cambarus）螯虾物种相似：蜕皮现象全年发生，峰值出现在4月与9月；蜕皮会对共生鳃蛭群落产生干扰效应，并重置群落组装过程。体型更大的近期蜕皮螯虾体表的蛭类群落更接近..., 研究人员还对曾被归类为C. sciotensis（Loughman等，2017）的阿巴拉契亚螯虾（Cambarus appalachiensis）在弗吉尼亚州纽波特休闲区的辛辛溪河段（坐标37.303096°N, 80.485522°W）开展每两月一次的采样，采样周期为2017年3月至2018年2月。所选采样河段包含多处浅滩（riffles）与深潭（pools），覆盖了螯虾的多种生境类型。研究人员使用抄网（dip nets）从河段内多样的微生境中采集螯虾，整个研究期间共捕获986只螯虾，月度采样量介于53至104只之间。在完成螯虾物理属性测量与共生生物鉴定（详见下文）后，研究人员将螯虾放归至采集点下游区域，以降低重复采样同一螯虾个体的概率。研究人员在溪流中即对螯虾进行分隔存放，防止共生生物在采样个体间发生传播，随后将螯虾从溪流转运至实验室，并以活体形式冷藏保存，且彼此间保持分隔..., # 《2017-2018年美国弗吉尼亚州纽波特辛辛溪坎伯兰属螯虾及其共生鳃蛭类调查》 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqqq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqqq) ## 采样方法 研究人员同时记录了共生鳃蛭在宿主螯虾体表的附着位置，具体分类如下，并标注了该位置在本数据集中所用的代号：螯虾甲壳腹缘或距腹缘5mm范围内（**a**）；螯足（chelae）背侧表面（**b**）；步足（walking legs）（**c**）；甲壳前部（包含额剑rostrum，不含a区域），即头胸部（cephalothorax）主横结构前方的区域（**d**）；甲壳后部（不含a与f区域），即头胸部主横缝线（primary transverse suture）后方的区域（**e**）；中域（areola）边缘内部（**f**）；腹部背侧表面（**g**），...