Zebra crayfish

The zebra crayfish, a new species discovered in Alabama tributaries of the Locust Fork. (Courtesy Guenter Schuster)

Alabama already had more documented species of crayfish living in its waters than any other state, but that lead was padded this week as two biologists announced the discovery of a new species called Cambarus clairitae, or the zebra crayfish, which so far has been found only in two small streams north of Birmingham.

Guenter Schuster and Christopher Taylor's discovery of the new species was published this week in the peer-reviewed, international scientific journal Zootaxa, which specializes in animal classification.

Schuster said he and Taylor first discovered the crayfish in 2011 during a survey of Gurley Creek, off Highway 79 near the Jefferson-Blount County line, and it was fairly obvious that they had found something new.

"The thing that struck us right off the bat is it was a large crayfish and the coloration was quite unusual with the dark banding," Schuster said.

The zebra crayfish is a new discovered in small tributaries of the Locust Fork north of Birmingham, as described in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Zootaxa. The discovery was published by biologists Guenter Schuster and Christopher Taylor. (Courtesy Guenter Schuster)

The credit for the name zebra crayfish goes to Taylor's son, who was impressed with the banding on the crayfish's tail.

Gurley Creek feeds into the Locust Fork, one of two primary tributaries of the Black Warrior River. Schuster said he has been able to collect samples of the crayfish five or six times since 2011, all in Gurley Creek or another small Locust Fork tributary.

Schuster and Taylor also found previously collected samples that had not been recognized as a new species in collections at the University of Alabama and the Mississippi Museum of Natural History. Both of those were collected in the same Locust Fork tributaries.

Schuster, based in Kentucky, and Taylor, from Illinois, have been studying Alabama crayfish for several years. The pair authored a 2004 book about crayfish in Kentucky, but Schuster said Alabama has nearly twice as many crayfish species as the Bluegrass State.

"Alabama is like the Holy Grail of crayfishes," Schuster said. "For aquatic biodiversity, Alabama really has no competition. It has the richest freshwater fauna in the country. The only state that's even close is Tennessee."

Of the roughly 400 known species of crayfish, Schuster said 96 can be found in Alabama, compared to 54 in Kentucky, and around 90 for Tennessee.

The zebra crayfish is the third new species Schuster and Taylor have described in Alabama, and there are three more potential discoveries that are being peer-reviewed before publication. One of those is a new dwarf crayfish species found in the Black Warrior River floodplain in 2014.

Schuster and Taylor eventually plan to publish a book about Alabama crayfish, but for now there remains a lot of work to be done.

"The number [of crayfish species] I feel confident is going to increase," Schuster said. "It almost seems like every time we go out, we get new surprises."