Procambarus clarkii

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	ARTHROPODA	CRUSTACEA	DECAPODA	CAMBARIDAE

Scientific Name:

Procambarus clarkii

Species Authority:

(Girard, 1852)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Red Swamp Crayfish

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	Crandall, K.A.
Reviewer/s:	Collen, B. & Richman, N.
Contributor/s:	Soulsby, A.-M., Batchelor, A., Dyer, E., Whitton, F., Livingston, F., Milligan, HT, Smith, J., Lutz, M.L., De Silva, R., McGuinness, S., Kasthala, G., Jopling, B., Sullivan, K. & Cryer, G.
Justification: Procambarus clarkii has been assessed as Least Concern. This species is abundant and able to tolerate a range of habitat types within its natural range. It is under no imminent threat. Further research is required to determine the abundance of this species, and whether it is being impacted upon by any major threat processes.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is wide-ranging from northern Mexico, to Escambia County in Florida, North to southern Illinois and Ohio. It has been widely introduced in the United States and elsewhere; Huner (1986) recorded the following introductions: Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia. This species has also been introduced to Europe, Africa, East Asia, South and Central America (K. Crandall pers. comm. 2009).
Countries:	Introduced: Belgium; Belize; Brazil; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cyprus; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; France; Georgia; Germany; Italy; Japan; Kenya; Mexico; Netherlands; Philippines; Portugal; South Africa; Spain; Sudan; Switzerland; Taiwan, Province of China; Uganda; United Kingdom; United States (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida - Native, Hawaiian Is., Idaho, Illinois - Native, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico - Native, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma - Native, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee - Native, Texas - Native, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia - Present - Origin Uncertain); Venezuela; Zambia
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	"The population at the Granville County site is extremely large, both in numbers and biomass. There is a very dense population distributed throughout the small ponds along Ledge Creek and in shallow areas of the creek itself" (Cooper and Braswell 1998). This is typical of this species in its native range (K. Crandall pers. comm. 2009).
Population Trend:	Increasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is found in a range of habitat types including wet meadows, subterranean karst systems, seasonal swamps and marsh, permanent lakes and streams, rice paddy fields, and irrigation channels and reservoirs (Global Invasive Species Database 2009). This species is able to tolerate a range of environmental conditions including low oxygen levels and high temperatures (Global Invasive Species Database 2009).
Systems:	Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is found in a range of habitat types including wet meadows, subterranean karst systems, seasonal swamps and marsh, permanent lakes and streams, rice paddy fields, and irrigation channels and reservoirs (Global Invasive Species Database 2009). This species is able to tolerate a range of environmental conditions including low oxygen levels and high temperatures (Global Invasive Species Database 2009).

Systems:

Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species is highly invasive, and is not impacted upon by any threats (K. Crandall pers. comm. 2009).

Major Threat(s):

This species is highly invasive, and is not impacted upon by any threats (K. Crandall pers. comm. 2009).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no species-specific conservation measures in place for this species. This species has been given a NatureServe Global Heritage Status Rank of G5, and was assigned an American Fisheries Society Status of Currently Stable (Taylor et al. 2007, NatureServe 2009). Further research is required to determine the abundance of this species, and whether it is being impacted upon by any major threat processes.

Conservation Actions:

There are no species-specific conservation measures in place for this species. This species has been given a NatureServe Global Heritage Status Rank of G5, and was assigned an American Fisheries Society Status of Currently Stable (Taylor et al. 2007, NatureServe 2009). Further research is required to determine the abundance of this species, and whether it is being impacted upon by any major threat processes.

Citation:	Crandall, K.A. 2010. Procambarus clarkii. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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