New Species of Giant Crayfish Found in Tennessee

Reuters

Biologists Chris Taylor from the University of Illinois and Guenter Schuster of Eastern Kentucky have recently discovered a new species of crayfish (commonly called crawdads or crawfish) in Tennessee.  The uniqueness of the species comes from the size of the creatures - about twice as big as other crayfish in the area. According to the Reuters article,

"This isn't a crayfish that someone would have picked up and just said, 'Oh, it's another crayfish,' and put it back," said University of Illinois aquatic biologist Chris Taylor, one of the researchers.

"You would have recognized it as something really, really different and you would have saved it," Taylor added in a statement.

The new species, Barbicambarus simmonsi, is about 12 cm (5 inches) long and most specimens are recovered under large rocks in deep areas on creeks. Read more here.