Astacus astacus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	ARTHROPODA	CRUSTACEA	DECAPODA	ASTACIDAE

Scientific Name:

Astacus astacus

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Broad-fingered Crayfish, European Crayfish, Noble Crayfish

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 (Groombridge 1994)
1990	–	Vulnerable (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Vulnerable (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1986	–	Vulnerable (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1983	–	Vulnerable (Wells et al. 1983)

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.

Conservation Actions [top]

Citation:	Sket, B. 1996. Astacus astacus. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 December 2008.
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