''Faxonius limosus'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Orconectes limosus'', is a species of

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 ...

in the family Cambaridae. It is native to the east coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, from Quebec to the lower

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

, Virginia, but has also been introduced to Europe. It is known commonly as the spinycheek crayfish. It is unusual in that it lives in silty streams, rather than the clear water usually preferred by crayfish. Like ''

Pacifastacus leniusculus The signal crayfish (''Pacifastacus leniusculus'') is a North American species of crayfish. It was introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European ''Astacus astacus'' fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague, bu ...

'', another invasive North American crayfish, ''F. limosus'' carries crayfish plague and is a threat to native European crayfish. ''F. limosus'' was introduced to Germany in 1890, and has since spread across much of

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

, recently reaching the United Kingdom. It has also spread southwards as far as the Danube in Serbia. Orconectes limosus, Lamoura - img 33351

In Europe, ''F. limosus'' is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union. Orconectes limosus Kopula

''Faxonius limosus'' can reproduce sexually or by parthenogenesis. Lobsters and crayfish are decapods meaning that they have 10 legs. 2 of them are claws. These crayfish live on the bottom of the freshwater pools, such as lakes, ponds and swamps. They prefer flat, sandy, and rocky floors. They are also found outside the water on beaches or lawns near the pool of water. They use rocks to make burrows while in the water. This is a very common species of crayfish, especially on Northeast United States, and Southeast Canada.

References

External links

* Cambaridae Freshwater crustaceans of North America Crustaceans described in 1817 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Crayfish-stub