88
Procambarus clarkii ranks first among the crayfish species harvested from natural
environments. The highest P. clarkii harvest is in China. Procambarus clarkii and
P. zonangulus are the most important species in South America, mainly in the
Louisiana region. The most important species cultivated in Australia is Cherax
destructor. C. quadricarinatus is the second most important species produced in
Australia. These species are larger than other crayfish species and therefore have
higher commercial value.
There are many crayfish species belonging to many families. This book will
provide information about some species of commercial importance. These are summarized as follows.
Astacus astacus (Linnaeus, 1758)
It is the most common species of crayfish in Europe, and a traditional food source.
Like other true crayfish, A. astacus is restricted to fresh water, living only in unpolluted streams, rivers, and lakes. It is found from France throughout Central Europe,
to the Balkan Peninsula, and north as far as parts of the British Isles, Scandinavia,
and Eastern Europe. Males may grow up to 16 cm long, and females up to 12 cm.
This species was once abundant in Europe, although it was expensive to buy, and is
the finest edible crayfish (Wikipedia 2019b).
Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823)
Astacus leptodactylus, also called “the Danube crayfish”, “Galician crayfish”,
“Turkish crayfish” or narrow-clawed crayfish, is a species of brackish water crayfish
imported and introduced to Central Europe in nineteenth century from the Caspian
Sea region. It was originally distributed over an area corresponding to Turkey, the
Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Southwest Russia, but is also found in Iran, Kazakhistan,
Georgia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. However, this crayfish has been widely introduced into many countries as a replacement for noble
crayfish populations lost due to crayfish plague (Souty-Grosset and Fetsner 2016).
Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852)
It is known as “signal crayfish”. It is a North American species of crayfish. It was
introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European Astacus astacus fisheries. They are bluish brown to reddish-brown in colour, with robust, large,
smooth claws. P. leniusculus is distributed from British Columbia in Canada at the
northern part of its range, South to central California and east to Utah and Montana
in the USA. P. leniusculus can be found in a variety of habitats, from smell streams
to large rivers and natural lakes (Cabi 2019a).
Cherax destructor (Clark 1936)
C. destructor is an aquatic crayfish, naturally distributed in a wide range of habitats
in its native range of distribution throughout inland Australia. It has a relatively high
commercial value, being a culinary delicacy (‘baby lobster’) and bait for sport fishing but it is also used as an aquarium species and in research. Destructor ranges over
2 million km
2
in its native range from South Australia and the southern parts of the
Northern Territory in the west, to the Great Dividing Range in the east (Cabi 2019b).
2 Crustacean Shellfish
Procambarus clarkii ranks first among the crayfish species harvested from natural
environments. The highest P. clarkii harvest is in China. Procambarus clarkii and
P. zonangulus are the most important species in South America, mainly in the
Louisiana region. The most important species cultivated in Australia is Cherax
destructor. C. quadricarinatus is the second most important species produced in
Australia. These species are larger than other crayfish species and therefore have
higher commercial value.
There are many crayfish species belonging to many families. This book will
provide information about some species of commercial importance. These are summarized as follows.
Astacus astacus (Linnaeus, 1758)
It is the most common species of crayfish in Europe, and a traditional food source.
Like other true crayfish, A. astacus is restricted to fresh water, living only in unpolluted streams, rivers, and lakes. It is found from France throughout Central Europe,
to the Balkan Peninsula, and north as far as parts of the British Isles, Scandinavia,
and Eastern Europe. Males may grow up to 16 cm long, and females up to 12 cm.
This species was once abundant in Europe, although it was expensive to buy, and is
the finest edible crayfish (Wikipedia 2019b).
Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823)
Astacus leptodactylus, also called “the Danube crayfish”, “Galician crayfish”,
“Turkish crayfish” or narrow-clawed crayfish, is a species of brackish water crayfish
imported and introduced to Central Europe in nineteenth century from the Caspian
Sea region. It was originally distributed over an area corresponding to Turkey, the
Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Southwest Russia, but is also found in Iran, Kazakhistan,
Georgia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. However, this crayfish has been widely introduced into many countries as a replacement for noble
crayfish populations lost due to crayfish plague (Souty-Grosset and Fetsner 2016).
Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852)
It is known as “signal crayfish”. It is a North American species of crayfish. It was
introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European Astacus astacus fisheries. They are bluish brown to reddish-brown in colour, with robust, large,
smooth claws. P. leniusculus is distributed from British Columbia in Canada at the
northern part of its range, South to central California and east to Utah and Montana
in the USA. P. leniusculus can be found in a variety of habitats, from smell streams
to large rivers and natural lakes (Cabi 2019a).
Cherax destructor (Clark 1936)
C. destructor is an aquatic crayfish, naturally distributed in a wide range of habitats
in its native range of distribution throughout inland Australia. It has a relatively high
commercial value, being a culinary delicacy (‘baby lobster’) and bait for sport fishing but it is also used as an aquarium species and in research. Destructor ranges over
2 million km
2
in its native range from South Australia and the southern parts of the
Northern Territory in the west, to the Great Dividing Range in the east (Cabi 2019b).
2 Crustacean Shellfish