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Astacus

 
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Astacus
 
 
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Astacus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of crayfish
Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads are fresh water crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. They breathe through feather-like gills and are found in bodies of water that do not freeze to the bottom; they are also mostly found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running, and which have shelter ag...
 found in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and western Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, comprising three species.

Due to the American crayfish plague
Crayfish plague

Crayfish plague, Aphanomyces astaci, is a water mould that infects crayfish, most notably the European Astacus which dies within a few weeks of being infected....
, crayfish of this genus have been almost wiped out in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and have in many European countries been replaced by the North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n signal crayfish
Signal crayfish

The signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is an United States crayfish indigenous to the western United States. Members of this species are up to 15 cm in length....
, which is more resistant to the plague. This, often illegal, implantation of signal crayfish has made it very difficult to reintroduce Astacus in the wild since the signal crayfish does carry the plague and infects lakes and rivers it inhabits.

Astacus has been added to the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Conservation movement status of plant and animal species....
 of Threatened Species.






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Astacus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of crayfish
Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads are fresh water crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. They breathe through feather-like gills and are found in bodies of water that do not freeze to the bottom; they are also mostly found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running, and which have shelter ag...
 found in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and western Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, comprising three species.

Due to the American crayfish plague
Crayfish plague

Crayfish plague, Aphanomyces astaci, is a water mould that infects crayfish, most notably the European Astacus which dies within a few weeks of being infected....
, crayfish of this genus have been almost wiped out in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and have in many European countries been replaced by the North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n signal crayfish
Signal crayfish

The signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, is an United States crayfish indigenous to the western United States. Members of this species are up to 15 cm in length....
, which is more resistant to the plague. This, often illegal, implantation of signal crayfish has made it very difficult to reintroduce Astacus in the wild since the signal crayfish does carry the plague and infects lakes and rivers it inhabits.

Astacus has been added to the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Conservation movement status of plant and animal species....
 of Threatened Species. In Europe, and in particular in Scandinavia
Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a historical and geographical subregion in northern Europe that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; some authorities also include Finland and some might even include Iceland....
, Astacus is often considered to be the original and finer, thus more expensive, crayfish.

Species

  • Astacus astacus
    Astacus astacus

    Astacus astacus, the European crayfish, noble crayfish or broad-fingered crayfish, is the most common species of crayfish in Europe, and a traditional foodstuff....
      Linnaeus
    Carolus Linnaeus

    Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
    , 1758    , the noble crayfish, European crayfish, or broad-fingered crayfish
  • Astacus leptodactylus
    Astacus leptodactylus

    Astacus leptodactylus, the Danube crayfish, Galicia crayfish,Turkish crayfish or Narrow clawed crayfish is a species of crayfish imported and introduced to Central Europe in 19th century from the Caspian Sea region....
      Eschscholtz
    Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz

    Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz was a Baltic German physician, botanist, zoologist and entomologist.Eschscholtz was born in Tartu in the Russian Empire....
    , 1823    , the Danube
    Danube

    The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
     crayfish or Galicia
    Galicia (Central Europe)

    Galicia is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine, named after Ukra?ni?n city of Halych.The nucleus of historic Galicia is formed of three regions of western Ukraine: Lvivska oblast, Ternopilska oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast....
    n crayfish
  • Astacus pachypus
    Astacus pachypus

    Astacus pachypus is a species of crayfish found in the Caspian Sea, the Don River, Russia, and parts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov....
      Rathke
    Rathke

    Rathke may refer to:*Martin Rathke - German embryologist and anatomist*Wade Rathke - Founder and former Chief Organizer of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ...
    , 1837


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