need some crayfish identification help

This small cray is about 1.25" in length, it was caught last summer (about the same size) to be a treat for our tadpole madtoms, it promptly vanished after a few days and I thought the madtoms enjoyed their treat. Now almost a year later I did a complete tear down on the tank and found him. I'm getting nowhere looking elsewhere online so I'm hoping you all can help. The cray was caught here in northwestern Ohio, in the Oak Openings area, thats all I remember. Now I'm finding him much more interesting than just a bit of food for my madtom's, I'm thinking he'll be getting his own tank, but I'd like to know what kind he is so any help would be great. I got this photo, but just couldn't obtain a clear ventral photo of the little critter, so I hope what I have will be enough.
Thanks,
Don

Cambarus sp. is all you're going to get...maybe C. cavatus or some odd form of C. diogenes. See the requirements in the sticky for a ID of crayfish. Looks like it might be a burrower. Perhaps try this resource Ohio Cambarus Key

Here's a list of likely species with pictures:

State of Ohio - Crayfish Species Checklist

Orconectes immunis would be my first guess.

The other one that pops to mind is Cambarus bartonii and looking at the image more this is where I'm now leaning towards.

Edited by sounguru, 04 May 2009 - 01:55 AM.

Matt - here's the NC crayfish ID webpage, with photos & distribution maps.
You can add it to your sticky post on cray & mussel ID.

http://www.ncwildlif...shes/index.html

Cambarus sp. is all you're going to get...maybe C. cavatus or some odd form of C. diogenes. See the requirements in the sticky for a ID of crayfish. Looks like it might be a burrower. Perhaps try this resource Ohio Cambarus Key

Orconectes immunis would be my first guess.

The other one that pops to mind is Cambarus bartonii and looking at the image more this is where I'm now leaning towards.

Thank you all for the links, I'm now leaning towards Cambarus bartonii, but I tried to take a few more pictures with my son's help, however the macro setting on my camera just isn't very good, so I don't know how helpful these photo's will be but hopefully someone will be able to confirm if it is C. bartonii or not. Again thanks.

bartonii does not have an obliterated (closed) areola and it sure looks like this specimen does in the first picture. They are also almost always a solid brown color and does not have this complex pattern, which would be a good reason to suggest Orconectes immunus. I think the rostrum shape and acumen pretty clearly show it is a Cambarus, along with the claw size.