When I found a crayfish I believed to be a new species, I took the
specimen to Troy State University in Troy, Al. I consulted with a Dr.
Raymond Kisner, and he let me sift through his crayfish books. There
were 4 books altogether, and I think that one of them was a book of
invertebrates in general, but I remember that 2 of them were definately
crayfish-only, and quite huge.
Dr. Kisner was rather old at the time, some 15 years ago, so I don't
know if he's retired by now. Howeever, with any luck, his books may
still be at the school.
It seems to me that the Biology Department of any large university
should probably have some crayfish books handy.
By the way, my crayfish wasn't in any of the books! I've only been able
to find 3 of them in the last 15 years, but then I haven't really been
looking for them. It has fairly slender & pointy main claws, is rather
small at only about 5 inches long, and a glossy jet black in color. I'm
talking Black Widow Spider glossy jet black. Further, each scute is
edged in gold. ( Gold the color, not the metal, although it does glisten
almost metallically ) It's quite a beauty. Have any of you ever found
anything like that anywhere? It's been driving me nuts for years; is it
new or not? All 3 of the specimens I found came from the "Happy Hole,"
which is the point at which and underground stream erupts to flow
overland. I've never gone inside the hole, but gather there is an
extensive cave network to be explored. Is the "Happy Hole Crayfish" a
new species, or just a cave form of some other? I just don't know. If
any of you have caves nearby, do you know of any black crayfish in them?
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