Pacifastacus fortis ( Faxon, 1914 ), 1982

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 124

Pacifastacus fortis ( Faxon, 1914)

( Fig. 30C, J)

Astacus nigrescens fortis Faxon, 1914: 360 , pl. 7, fig. 5; pl. 9, fig. 2.

Pacifastacus nigrescens . — Riegel 1959: 44, fig. 3D, 9 (in part).

Pacifastacus fortis . — Hobbs 1976: 23, fig. 13c, 14c. — Eng & Daniels 1982: 197, fig. 1a. — Larson & Olsen 2011: 62.

Diagnosis. Similar to P. leniusculus except rostrum with numerous sharp teeth. Postorbital ridges with sharp teeth. Major chela with out patches of setae, width of chela equal to or greater than length of mesial margin. Male abdomen narrower, major chelae heavier than those of female. Carapace length to 50 mm.

Color in life. Dark brownish green to dark brown dorsally, bright orange ventrally, occasionally blue-green to bright blue with light salmon color below ( Eng & Daniels 1982).

Habitat and depth. Cool, clear, spring-fed lakes, streams; under rocks on clean firm sand or gravel, shallow.

Range. Streams in Fall River, Hat Creek sub-drainages, area of Pit River connecting them, in Shasta County, California . Type localities Fall River Mills and Hat Creek near Cassel , California .

Remarks. Riegel (1959) considered P. fortis to be a subspecies of P. nigrescens , and included records of P. fortis in his account of the range of P. nigrescens . His records from Fall River, Fall "City" [sic] Mills, (the correct name is Fall River Mills), and Hat Creek at Cassel surely belong to P. fortis . Eng & Daniels (1982) prepared an extensive report on the threatened Shasta crayfish.