Each of the 50 states in the United States has an official abbreviation, bird, and flower. Every abbreviation is obviously different — imagine the chaos that would ensue if Texas and Tennessee both decided to go by TE.
However, this need for distinction only extends to the abbreviations. For example, Kentucky designated the northern cardinal as its official state bird in 1926. Over the years, six other states, including West Virginia, have also named the red-feathered bird their official state bird.
In truth, the states have designated a lot of things as “official,” and all except one have at least one official state song. West Virginia, as it happens, has four. And even those mildly attuned to the country music scene would have a fair shot at guessing one of them: John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
The song pays homage to the “mountain momma” that is West Virginia and the country roads winding across and within it. However, for the purposes of this article, the essential lyrics of the song are just two words, “Shenandoah River.”
West Virginia is indeed filled with sprawling forests, towering mountains, and lots of country roads, but the Shenandoah River is a major source of life for the state’s wildlife and ecosystems.
In fact, the river is the key to survival for some of the 22 federally endangered plant and animal species living in the state. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 gives federal protection to at-risk species. In West Virginia, those protections are enforced and carried out by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR) and its rare, threatened, and endangered species program (WVDNR RTE).
Keep reading to learn more about three river-adjacent species living in the Mountain State.
Guyandotte River Crayfish
Photo Courtesy WVFO/USFWS
The Guyandotte River crayfish (Cambarus veteranus) is a freshwater, tertiary burrowing crustacean closely related to the cooler-named Big Sandy crayfish. Freshwater crayfish use burrows to avoid predators, care for their broods, and forage, among other things.
There are three classifications for burrowers — primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary burrowers can create extremely complex burrows but rely heavily on them for survival. Secondary and tertiary burrowers like the Guyandotte River crayfish, on the other hand, aren’t reliant on burrows and exhibit a lack of complex burrowing behavior compared to others.
Full-grown adults reach approximately 3 to 4 inches long, dawn olive brown to light green colored shells, called carapaces, and blue walking legs. The crayfish was designated as endangered under the ESA in 2016, and for good reason.
The species can now only be found in two streams in Wyoming Country, West Virginia, and its historical range has diminished by more than 90%.
Habitat loss and water pollution caused by coal mining, such as blowing up the tops of mountains, have driven the species to this decline.
Fortunately, Guyandotte River crayfish received a huge boost to their chance of survival just two years ago. A petition by the Center for Biological Diversity resulted in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officially designating 446 stream miles of critical habitat for the crayfish (and the Big Sandy) in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia. Critical habitats require that all federally funded or permitted projects consult with the USFWS to ensure they won’t negatively affect the crayfish habitat.
Diamond Darter
Photo Courtesy Hagerty, Ryan/USFWS
The diamond darter (Crystallaria cincotta) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish and a member of the Perch family, defined by the presence of dorsal fins that have spiny and soft parts. The translucent fish typically have 11 to 13 spines on their dorsal fins and 11 to 15 soft rays. The adults tend to reach only a few inches in length at most, with the largest ever recorded measuring approximately 3.03 inches.
Although they are certainly not any type of burrowing crustacean (they aren’t even crustaceans), they, too, bury themselves in sand. However, the darters only do it at the bottom of streams to ambush their main prey: insects.
The species was actually once considered extinct, but it was rediscovered in the Elk River in West Virginia in 1980.
In the decades since, the animal was found in offshoots across five states through the Ohio River basin, including the Cumberland, Elk, Green, and Muskingum Rivers.
The fish have never been extremely populous — fewer than 125 have been seen in the past 30 years — but were listed as endangered under the ESA in 2013. The diamond darters’ range is once again limited to only the Elk River due to the destruction of its historic range from damming and water pollution.
That endangered listing did come with more than just the standard protections because it also designated the river miles of the Elk River, where the darters are known to occur, as a critical habitat, just like the Guyandotte River crayfish.
Candy Darter
Photo Courtesy Hagerty, Ryan/USFWS
The candy darter (Etheostoma osburni) is one of the most colorful fish in North America. The small, bright teal-, orange-, and red-colored freshwater fish are endemic to second-order and larger streams and rivers in some parts of the upper Kanawha River basin.
Second-order streams are formed by the coming together of two first-orders, also called headwater streams, which are basically tiny rivers at the highest point of a watershed. Second-order streams have more water volume than first-orders and eventually pour into third-order streams. The cycle continues until you reach the highest order — the biggest river in the watershed.
Adults reach 2 to 3 inches in length, live up to three years, and have a lot of different stripes along their sides: five distinct saddles and nine to 11 vertical blue or green bars, with red bars alternating between those.
The species, which prefers cold and fast-moving water, was first documented in West Virginia in 1931.
Its most serious threats are pollution, habitat degradation, and hybridization with a closely related species called the variegate darter. Critically, candy darters were listed as endangered under the ESA in 2018 after strenuous petitions and advocacy work from conservation groups. The listing was missing one thing — a critical habitat designation.
On May 7, 2021, the USFWS designated a critical habitat for the candy darter, amounting to 368 stream miles in West Virginia and Virginia. Even more recently, the WVDNR Wildlife Diversity Fish Program has partnered with its RTE program on a special endeavor: managing and restoring candy darter populations. A lot of work remains to be done, but at least for now, West Virginia isn’t home to just John Denver — the candy darters belong, too.
