Euastacus Australasiensis
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''Euastacus'' is a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, ''
Cherax ''Cherax'', commonly known as yabby/yabbies in Australia, is the most widespread genus of fully aquatic crayfish in the Southern Hemisphere. Various species of cherax may be found in both still and flowing bodies of freshwater across most of Au ...
''. Both genera are members of the family
Parastacidae The Parastacidae are the family of freshwater crayfish found in the Southern Hemisphere. The family is a classic Gondwana-distributed taxon, with extant members in South America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, and extinct ta ...
, a family of freshwater crayfish restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. ''Euastacus'' crayfish are distinguished from the smooth-shelled ''Cherax'' species by the short robust spikes on their claws and
carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...
, and frequently, their larger size. Many ''Euastacus'' species grow to a relatively large size, with the Murray River crayfish (''Euastacus armatus'') being the second largest freshwater crayfish species in the world. (The largest freshwater crayfish in the world is the
Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish The Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (''Astacopsis gouldi''), also called Tasmanian giant freshwater lobster, is the largest freshwater invertebrate and the largest freshwater crayfish species in the world. The species is only found in the rive ...
(''Astacopsis gouldi''), found on the Australian island of
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
, and the genus ''Astacopsis'' is now known to be a very closely related sister genus to ''Euastacus''.) The genera ''Cherax'' and ''Euastacus'' continue a trend present in many Australian native freshwater fish genera of speciation into generalist
lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...
and specialist upland species. Generally, ''Cherax'' species inhabit lowland rivers at low to medium altitudes and swamps and ephemeral waters in inland areas of Australia including the Murray-Darling Basin. Conversely, ''Euastacus'' species are only found in permanent waters and generally inhabit upland rivers at medium to high altitudes in the Murray-Darling Basin as well as many easterly and southerly flowing coastal river systems. The partial exceptions to this are: * the Murray River crayfish which was originally found along the entire length of the
Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...
in addition to many upland habitats, and is still found in the middle reaches of the Murray River * the Glenelg Spiny Crayfish (''Eustacus bispinosus''), found (or formerly found) in lowland areas of the Glenelg River system and Eight Mile Creek/Ewen Ponds system * the Gippsland Crayfish (''Euastacus kershawi''), found in lowland areas of some streams in the Gippsland area. Even when found in lowland habitats, these several more adaptable ''Euastacus'' crayfish are still highly dependent on reliable flows and good water quality, with good dissolved oxygen levels and low salinity. In contrast to ''Cherax'' (yabby) species, Euastacus species are unable to survive drying of their habitats. The genus ''Cherax'' has a far wider distribution than the genus ''Euastacus'', and is found in many parts of Australia including south-western Australia. The genus ''Euastacus'' is restricted to the south-east of the Australian mainland. There is a high degree of
endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
in ''Euastacus'' species in coastal river systems, with many species restricted to single river or creek
catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
. ''Euastacus'' species occur in several upland reservoirs. ''Euastacus'' species are extremely slow growing, long-lived (possibly 40+ years in some species), and late to reach sexual maturity. These biological characteristics make ''Euastacus'' species vulnerable to environmental disturbances and essentially unable to support to catch-and-kill fisheries.


Species

Of the 50 species in the genus ''Euastacus'', 17 are on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
as critically endangered (CR), 17 are
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
(EN), 5 vulnerable (VU), 1
near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
(NT), 8
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
(LC) and 1 is
data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
(DD): *'' Euastacus armatus'' (Von Martens, 1866) *''
Euastacus australasiensis ''Euastacus'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, '' Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a ...
'' (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) *''
Euastacus balanesis ''Euastacus'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, '' Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a fam ...
'' Morgan, 1988 *'' Euastacus bidawalis'' Morgan, 1986 *'' Euastacus bindal'' Morgan, 1989 *'' Euastacus bispinosus'' Clark, 1936 *'' Euastacus brachythorax'' Riek, 1969 *'' Euastacus clarkae'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus claytoni'' Riek, 1969 *'' Euastacus crassus'' Riek, 1969 *'' Euastacus dalagarbe'' Coughran, 2005 *''
Euastacus dangadi ''Euastacus'' is a genus of fresh water, freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, ''Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parasta ...
'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus diharawalus'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus diversus'' Riek, 1969 *''
Euastacus eungella ''Euastacus eungella'' is a species of southern crawfish in the family Parastacidae The Parastacidae are the family of freshwater crayfish found in the Southern Hemisphere. The family is a classic Gondwana-distributed taxon, with extant membe ...
'' Morgan, 1988 *'' Euastacus fleckeri'' (Watson, 1953) *'' Euastacus gamilaroi'' Morgan, 1997 *''
Euastacus girurmulayn ''Euastacus'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, '' Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a fam ...
'' Coughran, 2005 *'' Euastacus gumar'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus guruhgi'' Coughran, 2005 *'' Euastacus guwinus'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus hirsutus'' (McCulloch, 1917) *'' Euastacus hystricosus'' Riek, 1951 *'' Euastacus jagabar'' Coughran, 2005 *'' Euastacus jagara'' Morgan, 1988 *'' Euastacus kershawi'' Smith, 1912 *'' Euastacus maccai'' McCormack & Coughran, 2008 *'' Euastacus maidae'' (Riek, 1956) *'' Euastacus mirangudjin'' Coughran, 2002 *'' Euastacus monteithorum'' Morgan, 1989 *'' Euastacus morgani'' Coughran & McCormack, 2011 *'' Euastacus neodiversus'' Riek, 1969 *'' Euastacus neohirsutus'' Riek, 1956 *'' Euastacus pilosus'' Coughran & Leckie, 2007 *'' Euastacus polysetosus'' Riek, 1951 *'' Euastacus reductus'' Riek, 1969 *'' Euastacus rieki'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus robertsi'' Monroe, 1977 *'' Euastacus setosus'' (Riek, 1956) *''
Euastacus simplex ''Euastacus'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, '' Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a ...
'' Riek, 1956 *'' Euastacus spinichelatus'' Morgan, 1997 *''
Euastacus spinifer ''Euastacus spinifer '' is a species of freshwater crayfish endemic to Australia that belongs to the family Parastacidae. Appearance Morphological variation is observed in ''Euastacus spinifer'' that originate in different river systems. They a ...
'' (Heller, 1865) *''
Euastacus sulcatus ''Euastacus sulcatus'', also known as the Lamington crayfish, is a freshwater crayfish, or "yabby", native to Australia. It is commonly bright blue in colour and roams the forest floor when conditions are damp. Red and white colour variants also ...
'' Riek, 1951 *'' Euastacus suttoni'' Clark, 1941 *'' Euastacus urospinosus'' (Riek, 1956) *'' Euastacus valentulus'' Riek, 1951 *'' Euastacus wiowuru'' Morgan, 1986 *''
Euastacus yanga ''Euastacus yanga'', also known as the variable spiny cray, is a freshwater crayfish endemic to south eastern Australia. Description The maximum recorded size was OCL (Occipital Carapace Length) which is used to measure the species' size. Th ...
'' Morgan, 1997 *'' Euastacus yarraensis'' (McCoy, 1888) *'' Euastacus yigara'' Short & Davie, 1993


References


External links


Giant Spiny Crayfish (''Euastacus spinifer'') video on Youtube

Gippsland Spiny Crayfish (''Euastacus kershawi'') video on Youtube
{{Taxonbar, from=Q309353 Parastacidae Freshwater crustaceans of Australia Crustacean genera