University of Illinois team discovers new crayfish

Champaig n, Ill. — Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified two new species of crayfish in the Pacific Northwest.

Long mistaken for the Signal Crayfish, the two new species – the Okanagan Crayfish and the Misfortunate Crayfish – have now been named.

“I think we underestimate how rich the biological world around us can be,” said study co-author Eric Larson, associate professor at the U of I. “People are surprised to learn that there are over 600 described species of crayfish globally, and now, there are two more.”

MORE COVERAGE FROM ILLINOIS OUTDOOR NEWS:

Ralph Loos: Catfish getting due spotlight on Wabash River from Illinois, Indiana researchers

With population dwindling, gray foxes now under Illinois DNR control

Top duck hunting club in southern Illinois closed after baiting case

The discovery was long in the making, as observations of unusual looking crayfish were investigated over many years using increasingly sophisticated genetics methods.

Larson and his colleagues used a process known as genome skimming to sequence mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to compare crayfish lineages.

Through that process, as well as extensive field sampling and morphological analyses, the Okanagan Crayfish and the Misfortunate Crayfish came to light.