Abstract

The Williams crayfish, Orconectes (Procericambarus) williamsi, is a globally vulnerable and Missouri state imperiled crayfish known only from small tributaries in the upper White River drainage basin in southwestern Missouri and northern Arkansas. In this study, 24 sampling localities for O. williamsi were examined for levels of genetic variation within a 659 base pair region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. Orconectes williamsi was found to be quite variable across its range, with a total of 53 distinct haplotypes being detected among the 326 sampled individuals. A nested clade phylogeographic analysis (NCPA) of O. williamsi populations resulted in four distinct haplotype networks that were quite divergent from one another. The majority of populations from the eastern portion of the Missouri range grouped into a single large network that was further divided into three distinct subgroups. The populations associated with the different networks detected by the NCPA were quite different from each other and should be considered evolutionary significant units (ESUs), as they are reciprocally monophyletic (i.e., show fixed haplotype differences) for their respective mtDNA profiles. In addition, the three divergent population subgroups that make up the main network should each be considered an individual conservation management unit (MU).

Supplemental Documents

• There are no supplementary documents for this article

Cited By

Citations: