Pacifastacus (Hobbsastacus) chenoderma Cope 1871

Keith A. Crandall, James W. Fetzner, Jr., and Horton H. Hobbs, Jr.

Containing group: Pacifastacus (Hobbsastacus)

Types

Syntype, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Wahsington D.C. 353343; other syntypes probably lost.

Type Locality

"Catherine's creek, Idaho." According to an annotation in a reprint, this is "a local name for the upper part of Castle Creek, Owyhee County." Previously reported to be a Pliocene deposit, Feldman et al. (1981:788) stated that this fossil was "described from the Miocene Payette Formation in Idaho and Oregon."

Range

Miocene and Pliocene(?) deposits in Idaho and Oregon.

Remarks

Rathbun (1926) redescribed and figured Cope's A. chenoderma, suggesting that both A. breviforceps and A. subgrundialis are probable synonyms. Since the types are lost and accounts of specimens assignable to either have not appeared since Miss Rathbun's review of the species, I have followed her in including these species as probable synonyms of Pacifastacus chenoderma. The species was transferred to the genus Pacifastacus and referred to the subgenus Hobbsastacus because the rostrum with as many as seven pairs of marginal spines is a feature foreign to members of the Eurasian Astacidae but strongly resembles that of four members of the American astacid genus Pacifastacus: P. connectens, P. fortis, P. gambelii, and P. nigrescens.

References

Cope, Edward D. 1871. On Three Extinct Astaci from the Fresh-Water Territory of Idaho. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 11:605-607.

Feldman, Rodney M., Lance Grande, Cheryl P. Birkhimer, Joseph T. Hannibal, and David L. McCoy. 1981. Decapod Fauna of the Green River Formation (Eocene) of Wyoming. Journal of Paleontology, 55(4): 788-799, 3 plates.

Hobbs, H. H. Jr. 1989. An Illustrated Checklist of the American Crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidae, Cambaridae, and Parastacidae). Smithsonian Institution Press.

Rathbun, Mary J. 1926. The Fossil Stalk-eyed Crustacea of the Pacific Slope of North America. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 138: vii + 155 pages, figures 1-6, 39 plates.

About This Page

Page constructed by Emily Browne.

Keith A. Crandall
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA

James W. Fetzner, Jr.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Horton H. Hobbs, Jr.
Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Keith A. Crandall at

Citing this page:

Crandall, Keith A., James W. Fetzner, Jr., and Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. 2001. Pacifastacus (Hobbsastacus) chenoderma Cope 1871. Version 01 January 2001 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pacifastacus_%28Hobbsastacus%29_chenoderma/6679/2001.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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