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Euastacus Balanensis

Euastacus Balanensis
Queensland Crayfish

Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Family:     Parastacidae
Genus:     Euastacus
Species:   Euastacus Balanensis

Local Name : Crayfish of Queensland / Queensland Crayfish

Habitat : species has been collected in tropical rainforess at altitudes above 800 m a.s.l. on the Atherton Tableland, west of Cairns and from the Bellenden Ker Range west of Babinda. This is the highest country in Queensland. Australia

Size in Natural :

Male Large then Female

Habitat and Ecology
Euastacus balanensis inhabits waterways in cool rainforested areas (Morgan 1988), including  gullies and small streams (Coughran 2008a unpublished data). Although the species occurs in a  number of streams, these are headwaters of various different drainages, on different mountain  ranges, and therefore the species’ distribution is clearly fragmented (Morgan 1997; Ponniah and Hughes 2006).

Threats :
Although this species occupies a relatively wide  distribution (including National Parks), it is  susceptible to the following potential threats:
-  Over-exploitation. Although technically protected by recreational fishing regulations, this  rare species may be susceptible to over-exploitation by collectors.
-  Climate change, including increasing temperature, alterations to hydrological regimes,  severe weather events, loss of suitable cool, forested highland habitat and increased  potential for bushfires (Hilbert et al. 2001; Chiew and McMahon 2002; Howden 2003;  Hughes 2003; Pittock 2003; Hennessy 2006; Westoby and Burgman 2006; IPCC 2007;  Laurance and Curran 2008).
-  Potentially large scale threats from Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) (DEH 2004a) although  there are no specific data on impacts for this species.
- Other exotic species (cats, foxes, pigs) that have generally been found to impact on  crayfish (e.g. Green and Osbourne 1981; Horwitz 1990; Merrick 1995; Eyre et al. 1997;  ACT Government 2007; O’Brien 2007) also  occur in this species’ range (DEH 2004b,c,d), and these exotic species  could have localised impacts on  Euastacus Balanensis.

Euastacus Balanensis Map