The Linear Cobalt Crayfish (Cambarus gentryi) is a freshwater decapod (10-legged) crustacean in the Cambaridae family of crayfish.
The Linear Cobalt Crayfish has a cobalt blue shell with orange or yellow markings. It has 10 appendages – two of them are large pincers. Its other legs have a small claw at the end. It has 20 body segments grouped into two main parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen.
It grows to about 17 centimetres (7 inches) long. Its shell is about 3-5 centimetres (1-2 inches) and its pincers are 2 centimetres (less than an inch) long.
It is native to the Cumberland and Duck river basins in Tennessee, North America.
It is benthic – a bottom feeder. It scavengers for food, such as debris, detritus, aquatic plants, and algae, at the bottom of freshwater rivers.
It lives in burrows about 90 centimetres (35 inches) deep in soft, damp soil. There are two openings to the surface of the burrow.
Location of photographs: Nashville, Tennessee, North America
Photographer: Michael Catalano
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