Astacus

Astacus
Astacus astacus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata Infraorder: Astacidea Superfamily: Astacoidea Family: Astacidae Genus: Astacus Fabricius, 1775
Species
See text.

Astacus is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three species.

Due to the American crayfish plague, crayfish of this genus have been almost wiped out in Europe and have in many European countries been replaced by the North American signal crayfish, which is often more resistant to the plague. This, often illegal, implantation of signal crayfish has made it very difficult to reintroduce Astacus in the wild since the signal crayfish does carry the plague and infects lakes and rivers it inhabits.

Astacus has been added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Europe, and in particular in Scandinavia, Astacus is often considered to be the original and finer, thus more expensive, crayfish.

Species

• Astacus astacus Linnaeus, 1758, the noble crayfish, European crayfish, or broad-fingered crayfish
• Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823, the Danube crayfish or Galician crayfish
• Astacus pachypus Rathke, 1837

External links

• Crayfish Taxon Browser
• http://www.american.edu/TED/crayfish.htm
• http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=2191
• Crayfish News
• Crayfish Pictures