The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added crayfish species in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia to the Endangered Species list.
The agency says the Guyandotte River crayfish will be listed as endangered and the Big Sandy crayfish will be listed as threatened.
A survey team in West Virginia found two isolated populations of the Guyandotte River crayfish in Pinnacle Creek and the Clear Fork in Wyoming County.
The Big Sandy crayfish was found at most previously known locations in the upper Big Sandy River watershed in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.
The crayfishes have been lost from more than half of their ranges because of water pollution, primarily from coal mining, according to a press release by the Center for Biological Diversity. Crayfish are the 3rd most endangered animal group in the country.