Astacus

This article is about the genus of crayfish. For the city in Greece, see Astakos. For the ancient Greek city now in Turkey, see Astacus (Bithynia). For the mythical figure, see Astacus (mythology).

Astacus
Astacus astacus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Astacidea
Superfamily: Astacoidea
Family: Astacidae
Genus: Astacus
Fabricius, 1775
Species

Astacus (from the Greek αστακός, astacós, meaning "lobster" or "crayfish")[1] is a genus of crayfish found in Europe, comprising three extant (living) species and three extinct fossil species.[2]

Due to the crayfish plague, crayfish of this genus have declined in many European regions, being replaced by the invasive North American signal crayfish, which carries the plague but is unaffected by it.[3]

  1. ^ Emmanuil Koutrakis; Yoichi Machino; Dimitra Mylona; Costas Perdikaris (2009). "Crayfish terminology in Ancient Greek, Latin, and other European languages" (PDF). Crustaceana. 82 (12): 1535–1546. doi:10.1163/001121609X12475745628586. Archived from the original (PDF proof) on 2011-07-21.
  2. ^ Crandall, Keith A.; De Grave, Sammy (2017). "An updated classification of the freshwater crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea) of the world, with a complete species list". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 37 (5): 615–653. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/rux070.
  3. ^ "Noble crayfish (Astacus astacus)". ARKive. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved May 6, 2007.