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Euastacus Bindal,  Female 27 gram, 35.93 mm

Euastacus Bindal


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

Australia (Queensland)

This species is endemic to Australia and known only from the type locality, near the peak of Mount Elliot in Queensland (J. M. Furse and J. Coughran pers. comm. 2008). There is no other suitable habitat within 250 km (Morgan 1989). The extent of occurrence for this species is less than 10 km² (J. M. Furse and J. Coughran pers. comm. 2008); area of occupancy is almost certainly less than the extent of occurrence. It is only known from a single location (J. M. Furse and J. Coughran pers. comm. 2008). 

Euastacus bindal is a rare and little known freshwater crayfish from remote, difficult to access streams of the Mt Elliot mountain group near Townsville, Queensland. Recent biological surveys of the Mt Elliot region, as part of the Australian Crayfish Project has found new information on Euastacus bindal with regard to its colouration, biology, abundance, distribution and conservation status.

This species inhabits cool, clear, fast-flowing waters in areas of tropical rainforest (Morgan 1989), and is known from a single isolated pocket of rainforest at approximately 1,000 m above sea level on Mount Elliot (Morgan 1989).

The slow growth rate and low fecundity of many Euastacus renders them less resilient to reduction in population numbers through habitat destruction and catastrophic events (Van Praagh 2003).