Astacus Leptodactylus

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Astacus Leptodactylus

Astacus Leptodactylus Red Color

Astacus Leptodactylus
Iran Crayfish
Turkish Crayfish
Danube Crayfish
Galican Crayfish
Long-clawed Crayfish
Narrow-clawed Crayfish
Pond Crayfish
Slender-clawed Crayfish
Swamp Crayfish

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Astacidae
Genus: Astacus
Species: Astacus Leptodactylus

Common name Astacus Leptodactylus

English : Danube Crayfish, Galican Crayfish, Long-clawed Crayfish, Narrow-clawed Crayfish, Pond Crayfish, Slender-clawed Crayfish, Swamp Crayfish, Turkish Crayfish
French : Écrevisse á Pattes Grêles, Écrevisse des Manais, Écrevisse Turque
Rusian : Pontastacus kessleri

Temp : 6 - 24 Celcius

Astacus Leptodactylus Averages 15-30 cm total length. The side of the thorax is rough and pale yellow to green in colour. The claws Astacus Leptodactylus are long and narrow. The upper surface is rough.

Astacus Leptodactylus can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length from the tip of the rostrum to the end of the telson (tail), but is more commonly found at around 15 cm (6 in) in length. The sides of the thorax are very rough, usually pale yellow to pale green in colour. Astacus Leptodactylus has two pairs of post-orbital ridges, the second of which may have spines. It also has a prominent tubercle (small nodule) on shoulder of the carapace. The claws of Astacus Leptodactylus are long and narrow (hence the common name 'narrow-clawed crayfish'). Their upper surface is rough and the underside is the same colour as the body. A tubercle can be found on the fixed side of the claw. Astacus Leptodactylus can be distinguished most easily from the European or broad-fingered crayfish, Astacus Astacus, by the relatively thinner "fingers" of the claws.

Astacus Leptodactylus in Iran
Iranian native crayfish includes one crayfish species, Astacus Leptodactylus, with two subspecies, A. l. leptodactylus (lives in freshwater) and A. l. eichwaldi (lives in the Caspian Sea with 12 ppt salinity). Only A. leptodactylus is commonly distributed in Iranian water resources. Nearly 80 years ago local fishermen started to catch Anzali Lagoon crayfish and sold them to foreigners and embassy employees. The consumption of crayfish in Iran is very low, approximately 1 t annually. The first commercially significant crayfish harvest in Iran was 11.3 t from Anzali Lagoon in 1985. It was carried out by a Turkish company. In 1985, the introduction of Astacus Leptodactylus was started into suitable Iranian freshwaters. For example, crayfish from Anzali Lagoon were introduced into Arass water reservoir in 1985. Today, Arass water reservoir is the main resource of crayfish in Iran. There was no further crayfish harvest in Iran until 1993. In that year, a private Iranian company began harvesting the Iranian crayfish and exporting them to European countries. In 1993, 3.2 t of crayfish were exported from Iran. Although there have been fluctuations between years, the export of crayfish in Iran increased remarkably after 1996. The successful results of crayfish introductions gave rise to this increase. In 2003, the export of A. leptodactylus from Iran reached the maximum level (216 t). The commercial value of exported crayfish between 2000 and 2009 varied from 1.5–2.5 million US$ annually and its amount was 106–211.5 t. However, there was a reduction in the export of A. leptodactylus from Iran after 2003, to just above 100 t. In conclusion, in order to increase crayfish production in Iran, introduction of A. leptodactylus into suitable water resources, and management, conservation and monitoring of present crayfish populations should be carried out.

Range Description Astacus Leptodactylus : This is a widespread species and can be found throughout Europe, eastern Russia, and the middle east. However it is absent from some of the northern European countries such as Norway and Sweden, and the southern European countries Spain and Portugal (Souty-Grosset et al. 2006). It is considered indigenous in the eastern part of its range, but has been introduced into many of the western European countries (Machino and Holdich 2006, Souty-Grosset et al. 2006)

Native Astacus Leptodactylus :
Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Georgia; Greece; Hungary; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Israel; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Moldova; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Turkey (Turkey-in-Asia, Turkey-in-Europe); Turkmenistan; Ukraine

Astacus Leptodactylus is fairly docile, especially the male with large claws, and favours relatively still waters such as lakes and canals. It is listed as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List