Preliminary Evaluation of Two Active-Sampling Methods for Crayfishes on the Southern Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee

William G. Wells^1,*, Marley G. Barton², Katie E. McGhee¹, and Graham E. Nystrom¹

¹1Department of Biology, Sewanee: the University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383. ²Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Sewanee: the University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 23, Issue 4 (2024): 562–572

First published early online: 18 December 2024

Abstract
In this preliminary study, we measured and compared the effectiveness of electrofishing and kick-seining sampling methods for crayfishes from 4 headwaters streams on the Domain of the University of the South. The University of the South is located on the southern Cumberland Plateau ecoregion in Sewanee, TN. Specifically, we examined how many individuals were captured between gears, and carapace-length differences between capture methods during March–April 2024. Focal species were Cambarus sphenoides (Triangleclaw Crayfish) and Faxonius placidus (Bigclaw Crayfish). Four times as many crayfish were captured on average with the electrofishing method (13.5 ± 4.1 crayfish) compared with the kick-seining method (3.0 ± 1.1 crayfish) across all 4 streams. Captured crayfish were of similar sizes using both methods. The higher catch rate from electrofishing compared to kick seining demonstrates that electrofishing is the best sampling method for headwater streams tested on the southern Cumberland Plateau for Triangleclaw Crayfish and Bigclaw Crayfish.

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