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Taxonomic implication of the 'form' and further morphological characters for the crayfish genus Cambaroides (Cambaridae)
Kawai T and Saito K 
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Abstract
Cambaroides (Cambaridae) has been taxonomically placed both in the Astacidae and the Cambaridae, two families of the Astacoidea the phylogeny of which is not yet settled. Cyclic dimorphism (changes of ‘forms’) in males of Cambaridae is a key character in distinguishing the two families, and here the form of Cambaroides is discussed to address its phylogeny. Alcohol preserved specimens from various museums were investigated. In C. japonicus and C. similis, the uncornified terminal elements of the 1st pleopod of young male individuals change with growth and in adult males the apex of the 1st pleopod is then cornified. The morphology of the terminal elements in adult Cambaroides, however, does not alter any more as would be expected for a member of the Cambaridae. There is no prominent hook and the three spines on the 1st pleopod in adult males of C. japonicus and C. similis are cornified and are not plain. Typical form alternation of the male morphology was not observed, with the morphology of Cambaroides thus differing from American Cambaridae. Therefore the present study does not support previous studies that Cambaroides belongs to the Cambaridae.
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Kawai T and Saito K. (1999). Taxonomic implication of the 'form' and further morphological characters for the crayfish genus Cambaroides (Cambaridae). Freshwater Crayfish 12(1):82-89. doi:
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