Astacus astacus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	ARTHROPODA	CRUSTACEA	DECAPODA	ASTACIDAE

Scientific Name:

Astacus astacus

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Noble Crayfish, Broad-clawed Crayfish, Broad-fingered Crayfish, European Crayfish, Red-clawed Crayfish, Red-footed Crayfish, River Crayfish

Synonym/s:

Astacus astacus colchicus Kessler, 1876

Asticus fluviatilis Fabricius, 1775

Cancer asticus Linnaeus, 1758

Potamobius fluviatilis balcanicus S. Karaman, 1929

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Vulnerable B2bce+3bcd ver 2.3

Year Assessed:

1996

Annotations:

Needs updating

Assessor/s

Sket, B.

History:

1994	–	Vulnerable (IUCN)
1990	–	Vulnerable (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Vulnerable
1986	–	Vulnerable (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1983	–	Vulnerable

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	It is found from France throughout central Europe, to the Balkan peninsula, and north as far as parts of Scandinavia, and the western parts of the Russuian Federation.
Countries:	Native: Austria; Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Latvia; Lithuania; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Moldova; Montenegro; Norway; Poland; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovenia; Sweden; Ukraine Introduced: Switzerland

Population [top]

Population:	Is said to be the most common species of crayfish in Europe.

Population:

Is said to be the most common species of crayfish in Europe.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Like other crayfish, the European Crayfish is restricted to fresh water, living primarily in unpolluted streams, rivers and lakes.
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Astacus astacus was once abundant in Europe, although it was expensive to buy, and is considered to be the finest edible crayfish. It is, however, susceptible to the crayfish plague carried by the invasive Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from America.

Major Threat(s):

Astacus astacus was once abundant in Europe, although it was expensive to buy, and is considered to be the finest edible crayfish. It is, however, susceptible to the crayfish plague carried by the invasive Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from America.

Citation:	Sket, B. 1996. Astacus astacus. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2010.
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