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Astacoides Betsileosensis

Astacoides Betsileosensis
Largest Madagascar Crayfish
The "Macrophthalmes" 

Astacoides Betsileosensis

Astacoides Betsileosensis

Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Family:     Parastacidae
Genus:     Astacoides
Species : Astacoides Betsileosensis, A Betsileosensis

Astacoides species are large for freshwater crayfish, reaching a carapace length of up to 80 millimetres (3.1 in) in the case of A. Betsileoensis. Males and females are similar, except for the organs directly involved in reproduction.Thomas Henry Huxley, in his book The Crayfish, noted that Astacoides has fewer pairs of gills than any other crayfish, with only 12 pairs compared to 21 pairs in Astacopsis.

Habitat and Ecology : Astacoides Betsileosensis is typically found to occur in the deeper-water of slow-flowing rivers at altitudes greater than 1,000m above sea level (Jones et al. 2007). It can also been found in smaller rivers with deep pools. Individuals are normally collected in areas of natural vegetation, although a single specimen has been collected from an irrigation channel in a rice field, and a number of specimens from a pine plantation (Jones et al. 2007). This is a burrowing species (Hobbs 1942) and in the study by Jones et al. (2007) it was found in burrows in sandy banks, up to a meter long with galleries running parallel to the bank.

This is the largest of the Astacoides species, and can reach up to 79 mm carapace length (CL) (Jones et al. 2007). Eggs are laid in June or July, and carried for approximately 4 months, hatching in October or November. Relative to other species of Astacoides it appears to withhold reproduction until it reaches a larger size, however in this study it was found to be the fastest growing species (Jones et al. 2007). During this same study 50% of females were found to be reproductive at 65mm carapace length.