''Cambarellus lesliei'' is a species of

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

in the family

Cambaridae The Cambaridae are the largest of the four families of freshwater crayfish, with over 400 species. Most of the species in the family are native to the United States east of the Great Divide and Mexico, but fewer range north to Canada, and south ...

. It is native to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

in the United States. It is known commonly as the angular dwarf crawfish. The main part of this species' distribution is

Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. T ...

. It has been collected from the

, Mobile, and

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties i ...

s. It lives in submerged vegetation in slow-moving and stagnant waterways. This is listed as a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN). It is common in its range, and though it faces several threats, none are considered to be major. The crayfish is listed as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

NatureServe NatureServe, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, US, that provides proprietary wildlife conservation-related data, tools, and services to private and government clients, partner organizations, and ...

, because it has a limited range, a fragmented population, and threats to its survival that have likely led to declines in some subpopulations. Mobile Bay and its associated rivers host heavy shipping traffic and are affected by habitat disturbance and pollution.

References

Cambaridae Crustaceans of the United States Freshwater crustaceans of North America Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Crustaceans described in 1976 Taxa named by Joseph F. Fitzpatrick Jr. {{Crayfish-stub