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Astacopsis Franklinii

Astacopsis Franklinii

Astacopsis Franklinii

Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Family:     Parastacidae
Genus:     Astacopsis
Species:     Astacopsis Franklinii

Local Name : The Tasmanian Freshwater Crayfish

Habitat : New Town Rivulet, Northern Hobart, Eastern Tasmania, Australia

Water Temperature : 0 - 24 derajat celcius

Size in Natural : 60 Grams

Astacopsis Franklinii are usually dark brown with a paler underside, although juveniles can be pale orange in colour. The rostrum is narrow, V-shaped and terminates in a single blunt spine. Males and females are similar in overall body size. This is the smallest of the Astacopsis species; reaching a maximum weight of only 60 grams.

Astacopsis franklinii has been assessed as Least Concern. This species is widespread and relatively abundant across Tasmania, with an estimated extent of occurrence of 22,379 km2. Though there are known threats to this species, these are not thought to pose a signficant threat to this species at present. This species is smaller than Astacopsis gouldi and quicker to mature so is more resilient to pressures.

Ecology:     This species is found in rivers and streams and is a burrower (Hamr 2008). It is also known, in at least one location on the Freycinet Peninsula, to construct burrows well away from permanent water bodies (Horwitz and Richardson 1986).

Females begin to acquire secondary sexual characters between 36 and 46 mm carapace length (CPL), but most do not mature until 46 mm CPL. Males apparently begin to produce sperm at approximately 30 mm CPL but 100% maturity is not reached until size classes reach a CPL of 38 mm (Hamr 2008). In addition, this species mates and spawns in April-May, eggs are carried over winter, hatch in January, and young stay attached until well into the following autumn (April-May) (Hamr 2008). Astacopsis franklinii from Mt. Wellington matures at a smaller size than A. gouldi and A. tricornis (Hamr 1992a).

General threats to crayfish in Tasmania are likely to affect this species. These include the conversion of native forest to plantation, fragmentation of populations by barriers to movement such as poorly constructed or raised road culverts, habitat disturbance (removal of riparian vegetation, bank erosion, de-snagging, channelization) and illegal fishing (Australian Natural Resources Atlas 2007). In addition, climate change may present a threat to this species in the future through warming the cool, high altitude habitat required for this species (Hamr 2008). At the present time these ae not considered significant threats to the population.