{"id":26956,"date":"2019-03-06T09:15:06","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T15:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=26956"},"modified":"2019-03-06T09:15:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T15:15:06","slug":"austin-peay-state-university-led-research-team-names-new-crayfish-species-for-101st-airborne-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/03\/06\/austin-peay-state-university-led-research-team-names-new-crayfish-species-for-101st-airborne-division\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University led research team names new crayfish species for 101st Airborne Division"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Peay State University (APSU)<\/h2>\n

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – The stream beds on the Tennessee side of Fort Campbell harbor a rare treasure, a rusty-brown crayfish with white-tipped claws that exists nowhere else in the world. Former Austin Peay State University (APSU) graduate student Erin Bloom led the research that identified the crayfish as a new species.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Screaming Eagle Crayfish is rare, and it’s vulnerable, found at only three streams at Fort Campbell and one stream in Clarksville. (Carl Williams)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

She and her teammates named the new species the Screaming Eagle Crayfish in honor of the troops of the 101st Airborne Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was probably one of the most overwhelming parts of this for me was trying to come up with a name,\u201d Bloom, now a biology professor at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, said. \u201cWe knew we wanted to pay tribute to where the crayfish is found. Because the majority of them are found on Fort Campbell, we thought it would be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the Screaming Eagle Crayfish\u2019s<\/a> scientific name salutes the 101st Airborne<\/a>. Faxonius bellator <\/em>loosely translates to \u201ccrayfish warrior.<\/a> \u201d<\/p>\n

Discovering The Screaming Eagle Crayfish<\/h3>\n

Though the Screaming Eagle Crayfish has had its new name for only a couple of months, it has had a home at Fort Campbell for years. Nobody until now knew the crayfish lived only in Montgomery County and almost entirely on the Army post.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay student Erin Bloom. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bloom\u2019s research determined the crayfish lives in only three streams on post and one stream at Billy Dunlop Park in Clarksville, where it\u2019s seemingly rare. She and her teammates \u2013 APSU biology graduate Brittany McCall, APSU biology professor and Center of Excellence for Field Biology Principle Investigator Dr. Rebecca Blanton Johansen and retired Eastern Kentucky University biology professor Guenter Schuster \u2013 published their work January 7th in the Journal of Crustacean Biology<\/em>. The APSU Center of Excellence for Field Biology supported the research.<\/p>\n

Johansen credits the 2008 survey work of BHE Environmental (now a part of Power Engineers), particularly that of her colleague Bruce Bauer, <\/a>for the crayfish\u2019s initial discovery. The surveyors were studying crayfish, stoneflies, dragonflies and damselflies, specifically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey noticed this crayfish on Fort Campbell as something weird, and they couldn\u2019t quite figure out what it was,\u201d Johansen said. \u201cErin came in, and we took this project on, to look at this weird crayfish to see what species it was or if it was something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Bloom: \u201cFor me, it was really a puzzle I wanted to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Wasn’t Supposed To Be Here\u2019<\/h3>\n

The research started in 2013 as Bloom pursued her master\u2019s degree at Austin Peay. McCall, an APSU undergraduate at the time, and Schuster, a renowned crayfish expert, soon joined the project, which lasted about three years.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay student Brittany McCall. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

They determined the Fort Campbell crayfish had similarities to the Barren River Crayfish endemic to the Green River system in Kentucky and Tennessee and to the Wonderful Crayfish endemic to the Tennessee River system in Alabama and Tennessee.<\/p>\n

The BHE Environmental surveyors initially thought the Fort Campbell crayfish were Barren River Crayfish but couldn\u2019t figure out how they had crossed into the Red River system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surveyors and crayfish experts like Bruce Bauer thought it was odd because that crayfish wasn\u2019t supposed to be here,\u201d Johansen said.<\/p>\n

Bloom and her team discovered the Fort Campbell crayfish had features different from the Barren River Crayfish from the Barren River and the Wonderful Crayfish of the Tennessee River.<\/p>\n

McCall\u2019s and Bloom\u2019s extensive lab work and DNA tests helped prove the Fort Campbell crayfish was, in fact, a distinct species.<\/p>\n

[320left]While Bloom led efforts for DNA sequencing, McCall spent nearly an entire summer in the lab measuring 243 crayfish from Fort Campbell and the Barren River and Tennessee River systems, taking about two dozen sets of measurements for each crayfish, much of the work under a dissecting microscope.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something you\u2019d think you can do as an undergraduate, participating in research like this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Defining Screaming Eagle’s Vulnerablity<\/h3>\n

The Screaming Eagle crayfish looks like the Barren River Crayfish and Wonderful Crayfish, but \u201cwith a little practice, you can tell them apart,\u201d Johansen said. \u201cAnd compared with other species of crayfish that you will encounter where it is found, they\u2019re easy to recognize, the tips of their claws are pale, almost white, and their shape is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay biology professor Dr. Rebecca Blanton Johansen. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

The newly named crayfish is rare, and it\u2019s vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in a very small area,\u201d Bloom said. \u201cWe sampled other areas surrounding Fort Campbell, other streams in the Red River system, just to see if there were any other localities where we could find this crayfish, and we just haven\u2019t been able to find them elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even at Billy Dunlop Park, the crayfish is hard to find. The team found only eight specimens during four trips to the park, Bloom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven its small range, there is a conservation concern,\u201d Johansen said. \u201cIt seems to be declining in occurrence at Billy Dunlop, and it\u2019s concerning that the West Fork of the Red River has really been hit hard by development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publication And More Work To Come<\/h3>\n

After the team\u2019s research ended in 2015, Bloom and Johansen worked for a couple of years on the manuscript, which they submitted to the Journal of Crustacean Biology last fall. McCall earned her master\u2019s at Arkansas State University, where she\u2019s now pursuing her doctorate in environmental sciences.<\/p>\n

[320right]\u201cWe all worked on it so long that when we finally got the email to say it was ready for publication, it was just kind of like, \u2018Wait, what? It\u2019s really done?\u201d Bloom said. \u201cBut we aren\u2019t done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to focus on the life history of these guys,\u201d she added. \u201cWe know when reproductively active males and females are present, but as far as food habits, etc., we just haven\u2019t had the chance. We are hoping to start that soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bloom and Johansen might be back at Fort Campbell this summer tracking the lives of the tiny creatures now known as the Screaming Eagle Crayfish, a name especially important to McCall.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo pay homage to my hometown, and to my Fort Campbell family, is important to me,\u201d the Northeast High School graduate said. \u201cIt feels good to give back in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Learn More<\/h3>\n