Gramastacus is a genus of freshwater crayfish species from southeast Australia. It has two described species.

Gramastacus
Gramastacus lacus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Family: Parastacidae
Genus: Gramastacus
Riek, 1972
Species

Discovery edit

Two species of Gramastacus were originally described in 1972 by Edgar Riek from the Grampian region of western Victoria, Australia: Gramastacus insolitus and Gramastacus gracilis. In 1990, G. gracilis was determined to be a junior synonym of G. insolitus. In 2014, a new species Gramastacus lacus from the coastal regions of New South Wales was formally described by McCormack.[1]

Species edit

  • Western Swamp Crayfish - Gramastacus insolitus Riek, 1972 (western Victoria, Australia) - a very small non-burrowing crayfish that shares burrows with larger crayfish species
  • Eastern Swamp Crayfish - Gramastacus lacus McCormack, 2014 (coastal regions of New South Wales, Australia) - a larger, more robust crayfish species that digs their own burrows

References edit

  1. ^ McCormack, Robert B. (4 April 2014). "The eastern swamp crayfish Gramastacus lacus sp. n. (Decapoda, Parastacidae) a new species of freshwater crayfish from coastal New South Wales, Australia". ZooKeys (398). Pensoft Publishers: 53–67. doi:10.3897/zookeys.398.7544. PMC 3978226. PMID 24715801.