Despite their high diversity and degree of endemism in the southeastern US, little is known about population genetic structure of most crayfishes. This is because of their cryptic morphology and elusive behavior, particularly burrowing species. We compared population genetic structure of 2 burrowing crayfish species (Creaserinus burrisi and C. byersi) from bogs in Washington, Baldwin, and Mobile counties in southern Alabama, USA. Through hand excavation of burrows, we collected individuals from 7 drainage systems, with C. byersi in the southern extent and C. burrisi in the northern extent of the study area. Based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences, tests of pairwise genetic structure approached the upper limit of 1.0, showed that haplotype sharing between and within drainages was nearly non-existent. Large differentiation between and low genetic diversity both between and within drainage systems occurred for both species. Genetic structuring corresponded to subtle hydrologic features such as fine-scale drainage patterns and human development (road crossings). Our data suggest that these species have recently diverged with extremely low vagility and rare dispersal events, resulting in isolated populations. Such population uniqueness from a genetic perspective pose considerable challenges to range-wide management of these and other similar species.

尽管它们在美国东南部具有很高的多样性和特有度，但对大多数小龙虾的种群遗传结构知之甚少。这是因为它们具有隐秘的形态和难以捉摸的行为，尤其是穴居物种。我们比较了美国华盛顿州，鲍德温市和美国阿拉巴马州南部县的沼泽中的两种穴居小龙虾物种（Craserinus burrisi和C. byersi）的种群遗传结构。通过人工挖掘洞穴，我们收集了来自7个排水系统的个体，其中南部的拜氏i和南部的by在研究区域的北部。根据线粒体细胞色素氧化酶亚基I（COI）基因序列，成对遗传结构测试接近上限1.0，表明几乎不存在引流之间和内部的单体型共享。两种物种在排水系统之间和内部都存在较大的分化，而遗传多样性却很低。遗传结构对应于细微的水文特征，例如精细的排水模式和人类发展（人行横道）。我们的数据表明，这些物种最近以极低的易变性和罕见的扩散事件发散，导致种群孤立。从遗传学角度来看，这种种群的独特性给这些和其他类似物种的全范围管理提出了巨大的挑战。